FFIX: The Dark Knight
by True-Oblivion
Summary: A young man is drawn into the story of FFIX, and is forced to go along with the story to get back home... but does he want to? AN. Self insert, Rated T for Language, I own nothing exept myself, my added OC's and any plot changes.
1. Chapter 1

**A.N. My first Self insert, please don't flame and please review, oh and I recommend that you ether have your favourite battle music ready or the FFIX Boss battle music ready, (I wont ask you for music for the basic battles.**

**Chapter 1**

"Ugh... where am I?" I said slowly as I got up from the ground and raised a hand to my head. I looked over myself and saw my shoulder length dark blue hair, and my shabby cloak over a dark blue top and a dark blue pair of pants. I lowered my hand to my side and notice something odd. _Please don't tell me those are vines..._ I thought to myself as I looked around. I notice a giant yellow plant in front of me, and that I am sitting on a load of vines. I looks to my right and I saw a young girl lying there, she has long black hair, and is wearing a skin-tight orange jumpsuit with large buckles on the thighs and a white bell-sleeved blouse underneath. _Vines... large yellow plant... young girl with orange clothing... __**OH SHIT! This is Evil Forest!**_ I thought to myself, _Ok think, think, remember the storyline..._ I thought to myself to try and calm myself down, _Right the fact that the princess is here means that Zidane and the others have not arrived yet, meaning I could still be saved!_ I suddenly hear voices although I cant make anything out, _That would be Zidane, Vivi and Steiner,_ I decided to shout to see if they could hear me, "Hey! Anyone there!"

"Who's that!" A loud voice sounded out,_ Steiner I guess_

"Easy Rusty, he probably got captured by one of those plants as well," A suave and almost youthful voice said, _And that would be Zidane_, I then heard murmuring, the voice being so quiet I cant make out any words, _That would probably be Vivi_

"I cant actually remember anything," I shouted, "But would you mind helping me out?" I asked.

"Sure just keep out of the way and keep the girl safe." the suave voice I recognised as Zidane replied.

I tried to stand but a sudden pain in my stomach forced me to the ground. _Damn I must have been seeded..._ I thought as I crawled over to the girl. Once by the girls side I sat up, one knee bended and on arm leaning on it, the other limp by my side. I was panting heavily. "I wish I could help..." I muttered under my breath.

Suddenly a voice echoed in my head, _Do you truly wish to help?_

_Who's there! Who are you!_ I mentally shouted

The voice simply repeated its question, _Do you truly wish to help?_

_Yes I do! I want to help them!_

_Even if it might cost you your life?_

_I have nothing left to live for, if I fight alongside them I have a purpose in life again!_

I could sense the voices approval. _Then take the sword, and fulfil your potential!_

As soon as it finished its sentence a black blade appeared out of nowhere. It was a simple weapon made of a black coloured steel and a gold gem in the pommel. I took the blade. Suddenly, a small spider like plant burrowed its way out of the ground, heading for the unconscious girl, "Your not going to hurt anyone plant!" I shouted, I then got into a battle stance, my sword held above my head, pointing towards the monster. The monster charged at me. It reached back with its talons and tried to hit me with them, I brought my blade in front of them to parry the talons. The plant recoiled from the parry so I took advantage and slashed it in half. A small pouch dropped from its corpse. I picked it up and found a coin and a potion inside.

I sighed and looked up towards where Zidane and the group were fighting. I saw the young thief with shoulder-length blond hair, blue eyes and a prehensile monkey-like tail, and is wearing turquoise clothing. jump towards the plant, daggers raised high to deal an overhead strike. The plant brain reacted to this by smacking him back down to the ground with one of its tentacles. He landed directly on top of a Knight in rusted armour covering everywhere except his harsh face. Near him was a small boy wearing light blue clothing, and a large hat, I could see that his face was completely black so I couldn't make out any features apart from his his large yellow eyes. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my stomach as I remembered I had seeds from these plants trying to rip me apart from the inside. "Ugh, damn it," I said as I leaned on my sword for support, while clutching my stomach with my other hand. I decided to drink the potion I found on that plant earlier. As soon as the first drop passed my lips I felt revitalised. Wow that does work, I thought to myself as I rushed forward to join the battle.

I stopped near Vivi, still breathing heavier than I should be. They all notice me once I said, "Wouldn't it make more sense for the black mage to focus his magic before attacking with it?"

Steiner thought for a moment, "That would make sense, young man,"

"Alright then, Vivi focus your magic until your at maximum strength," Zidane said loud enough for us all to hear. "Rusty you focus on throwing potions to those who need them,"

"Grr..." the big knight growled but didn't argue,

"And you," Zidane said looking directly at me, "You ok to fight?"

"Yeah I should be fine..." I said quietly,

"Alright then, you and me will keep it busy while Vivi focuses and Steiner protects him wile throwing potions to anyone who gets hurt. I nod at this and get into my battle position.

**Play FFIX Boss Battle music now**

I charged forward with Zidane, leaving the mage and the knight behind. I reached the giant plant and slashed its central body, leaving a massive gash where I slashed, I then jumped back, dodging a huge tentacle crushing where I was just standing. I look behind me and see Zidane kneeling on the floor, I turn around and run back to help him. As I got close the seeds acted up again and forced me to the floor. "Damn it!" I muttered.

"Sorry I'm late!" A voice shouted from the entranceway, I look up and see a young man with belts all over his body,

_That would be Blank,_ I thought to myself, The new person ran up to Zidane and handed him a potion, then asked him, "Who's the guy with the black sword?"

"Dunno, we just found him here," Zidane replied after gulping down the potion,

"Then he might have been seeded," Blank replied before jogging over to me and handing me a different type of potion, looking almost like brown water in a green bottle, "Drink it, Otherwise you could be ripped apart from the inside,"

I nod and take it from his hand. I remove the cork and down it all in one gulp. I would prefer not to describe the taste. "God damn it, that's bloody awful!" I exclaim, however it removed the intense pain in my stomach and allowed me to stand. "Well at least I can fight properly now."

I turn around and face the giant plant, and get into my battle position. I slowly breath out. I charged towards the Plant. As I jumped to strike its head a tentacle came out of nowhere and slammed me into the ground. As the tentacle retracted Zidane ran forward and pulled me back. "You ok?"

I replied with "Yeah, should be fine," Even though my ribs were excessively damaged and my arm was bleeding. Suddenly time seemed to slow as I heard the voice from earlier.

_Its time for you to learn your first ability,_ it said, _Take the blood from your arm and wipe it on the blade,_

I decided to do as it said, Taking some blood with my thumb and wiped it on the base of the blade, I could see the effect, a dark aura encompassed the blade.

_Now swing the blade directly at the monster,_ the voice echoed in my head.

I decided to do it dramatically but the method I had in mind would require a name for the technique, so I asked, _What is the name of this technique?_

_Darkness_

I smiled slightly at that and held my blade in front of my face, flat side towards me. I twisted the blade so the edge faced me and the giant plant, "Its time to end this!" I roared, I jumped up and brought the sword behind me, "Darkness!" I shouted at the top of my voice. I swung my blade in the direction of my enemy, Causing a huge black shock-wave to echo out from the blade. It cleaved the giant plant in two. I landed in front of the plant. And my vision blacked out.

**The next day:**

I slowly started to awaken as I was clutching my head, "Oh god, where am I?"

"You are in our camp-site just outside of Evil Forest," A small voice said to my left. I look and see the Black mage from before. I look around and see the Knight in the rusted armour, but I don't see the Thief or the young girl.

"Where is the girl who was unconscious and the guy in blue?" I asked him quietly

"They went to the entrance of Evil Forest," Vivi answered,

"I'm guessing I should wait for them to ask any questions?"

"That would be best," The young mage answered.

I looked around at the camp-site, I saw that I was lying by the burned down remains of a fire with a cliff hanging overhead, nearby was a tent. Vivi was sitting just to my left as Steiner was standing guard.

"Hey your awake!"

I heard a voice from behind. I turn around to see Zidane and the princess walking back to the camp. "Hey," I said while raising my hand in a two finger salute. "So what happened? I literally woke up in a battle and had no time to catch up on anything happening..."

"Oh right..." Zidane then proceeded to introduce the members of the group and fill me in on what happened. "So what's up with you?"

"I have no idea," Well, I do but telling them what I remember would make me seem insane. "I only remember two things in addition to that ability earlier,"

"And what's that?" The young thief asked me,

"My name and what I am," I replied, "My name is Akio Matsuki,"

"And?" He asked,

"Its obvious you ignorant monkey," Steiner shouted at him, he then walked up to me and bowed. "I knew what you were just from the skill, sir Akio,"

"Then you mind filling the rest of us in Rusty?" Zidane said belligerently,

"He is a Dark Knight," Steiner said quietly, "One of the last warriors of the Arcane arts,"

**A.N. So what do you guys think? Can you please R+R, I need to know what people think and reviews keep me motivated.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N. Thanks for the review ****Shadow knight1121, I appreciate that someone has taken some time to write about my story, so any-ways, I hope you enjoy the next chapter of FFIX: The Dark Knight...**

**Chapter 2**

"A... Dark Knight..." Zidane muttered in surprise, the others showing similar signs of surprise.

"Its... nothing really..." I said quietly while looking at the ground,

"Nothing! Its been thought that all Dark Knights were dead!" Steiner shouted "The last Dark Knight ever to be seen was employed under our queen a number of years ago!"

"But... I only just learned any skills to do with it..." I muttered while still looking at the ground,

"Whatever the reason, Your powers will really help in escaping the mist!" Zidane interrupted, "But judging by the fact that you just woke up, we should wait one last night before leaving,"

"WHAT!" Steiner shouted before going into a tirade about the mist,

"Steiner!" I interrupted, "If I am not at full strength, There will no longer be any Dark Knights!" I snapped, angry at the insensitive idiot in front of me, "If I die the chances that the Princess will survive will plummet dramatically!"

"Gr... fine!" Steiner conceded, "But we leave as early as possible tomorrow!"

"At dawn if needs be." I finished the conversation.

**That night:**

I awoke in the middle of the night. No longer feeling the exhaustion I felt the previous day. I stood up from where I was lying on the ground, looking round I could see Zidane and Vivi near to the fire, trying to keep warm. I look over to my left and see the tent set up earlier for Princess Garnet, with Steiner lying directly in front of the tent flap. I sighed quietly, I then, moving quietly so as not to wake the others, headed up too the cliff hanging over the camp sight, bringing my sword with me. Once up there I stuck my blade into the turf and took a seat nearby, facing it. "I know your there..." I said quietly, Then in-front of the blade a small black flame appeared out of nowhere,

"Heh, I was wondering when we would talk again." The spirit said to me.

"You mind filling me in on why I am here? Or even just why I got a Dark Knights body," I asked it,

"Well I have no idea for your first one, but your second I can answer," The spirit said before continuing, "The reason you got my body is that we are essentially the same person, just in different worlds,"

"You mean that if we were swapped, it would still be that same,"

"Kinda, it was pure luck that your soul wasn't attached to your body and my body was about to die at the same time."

"Whoa..." I muttered

"Exactly, if the timing was off for even a second my body would have ended up another plant."

"Hang on, if this is your body then you have a history in this world, don't you?"

"Yes, although I cant remember much due to my condition, although I can tell you something. That last Dark Knight Steiner was talking about? That was me."

"So you have a history with Alexandria. Great." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I know what you mean, that is going to get in the way later,"

"Wait, how do you know what's coming?" I asked it surprise evident in my voice and face.

"As long as I am in your mind I can see your memories, meaning I can see your memories of the game."

"Uh huh. You do realise ,due to the fact that 'we' survived, the storyline will defiantly not be the same."

"Yeah, I read your memories of the fan-fictions of the game."

"Well, the basics should stay the same but we might have some problems that didn't happen in the game,"

"Heh, so you going to go with Zidane at the split off point?"

"No idea yet,"

"Well, that's in the future," The Spirit said in a tone which spoke volumes about how long the conversation has gone on,

"Yeah, right now I am going to need some sleep for the Ice Caverns."

**A.N. So what do you guys think, I have an actual storyline fitting reason why he has his body, and I made a reference to fan-fiction, Yay Paradoxes! Still though R+R**


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N. Thanks Shadow knight1121 for continuing to read this, and Demica Webb Kempton for reviewing, when I know someone is R+R, I know I have a reason to continue with this, especially since they keep me motivated and might influence on how fast I update the story, Just saying...**

**?: I think they get it**

**Me: Wha... How the hell did you get here!**

**?: Well I am a soul,**

**Me: True, well since your here, do the disclaimers,**

**?: Fine, owns nothing in this story except Himself, and any plot changes, **

**Me: Good, Now enjoy the next chapter of FFIX: The Dark Knight...**

**Chapter 3**

I woke again that night a few hours before dawn. I looked around the camp and saw that almost everyone was where they were a few hours ago. Except Steiner. He was sitting at the entrance to the camp, keeping watch for dawn or any monsters. I walked up to him. "Hey," I said quietly,

He looked around at me with surprise, "Sir Akio, you've awoken!"

I smile slightly and take a seat on a boulder near to where he was sitting, "So, what's up?"

"Its... nothing," He muttered while looking back to the Mist covered field in front of them, "An internal dilemma that will not stop me guarding the princess,"

I sigh before stating, "Fine, but would you mind dropping the formality. I barely remember anything about myself and being called 'sir' is kind of annoying."

"Ok, Akio," Steiner said quietly, "But I must maintain appearances in front of other people,"

"Fine," I said, "So long as you don't call me 'sir' 24/7"

Steiner chuckled then suddenly brought his head up, "Ah, that's right," He said while standing up, "You need a sheath for your sword don't you?"

"Yeah, I was hoping to get one at the next village," I said while looking at the floor,

"No need, I have a spare that should fit your blade well." He said before rushing back to the camp site, I sigh, _Why is he so different when he isn't in front of the others?_ I thought to myself, _Is it his duty to stop him being impolite,_

_Chances are that is correct,_ The soul said, its voice echoing though my mind,

_So his duty is also to guard the princess against impolite behaviour?_ I asked it,

_Actually its part of the Knights code that all members of an army have to swear to,_ The spirit explained, _I specifically states that Knights must be exceedingly courteous and polite at all times unless its to another knight, and even then, no one must hear them speaking lightly or they will be excluded from being a Knight._

At this point Steiner came back holding a long leather sheath, Obviously designed to be worn on the back. "Will this do Akio?"

"Yeah that should do." I said as I took the sheath, and put it on, buckling it at the front. "Fits my back pretty well actually,"

"It should hold your blade," Steiner said, "It once belonged to the last Dark Knight to serve Alexandria, may it serve you well."

I took my blade, reversed it across my arm and slid it inside, "A perfect fit..."

**Next day, Dawn:**

As we were getting ready to leave a small pink dot began rapidly approaching us from the forest. Vivi notices it and shouts "Look! There's something coming!"

"Wait! Kupo" It said to stop us doing anything, "I'm impressed, kupo! First time I've seen anyone escape from evil forest. You must all be strong, kupo!" Ah yes the famous lecture from the moogle, "But don't get cocky, kupo. Lots of stronger monsters ahead, So take this!" The moogle said before handing Zidane a small flute, "Use it to call one of us if you need help kupo!" It seemed like it was ready to depart but it looked at me and stopped. "Kupo!" It exclaimed before flying over to my and hovering in front of my face.

"Erm... is there something on my face?" I asked it,

"Here take this kupo!" It said as it handed me a small medallion, tinted slightly pink in colour and with a moogle's pom-pom engraved on it, its chain being pearls of the same shade.

"Thanks, but why?" I asked it,

"Don't you remember, kupo? You saved my life in there!"

"I did?"

"Yeah! I was about to be grabbed by one of those brown cage like plants kupo, when you pushed me out the way and got caught instead!"

"It makes sense... but I got hit with amnesia so..."

"Oh... well anyway kupo, show that to any moogle and they will help you kupo, it shows that you are a friend of the moogles kupo!"

"Then I gratefully accept. Thanks!"

"Kupo!" It said as we left, As I was leaving I heard a clang on armour, and chuckled to myself.

**2 hours later:**

We were standing in the middle of a vast field, the mist blocking our view of anywhere we could go. Zidane and Steiner were arguing **again**, Vivi was trying to calm them down and Garnet was just watching the spectacle. I sighed, "Will you two stop arguing for a few minutes so we can get out of this mist?" I shouted, my anger evident in my voice. Just then the mist lightens up and reveals that we are surrounded by Mus and Pythons. "Great. Just perfect." The sarcasm evident in my tone of voice.

The silence in the party was evident until Steiner, decided to be Steiner. "This is your fault you damned monkey!"

"Hey! What the hell did I do you rust bucket! You were the one shouting and bawling!"

"Shut up, both of you! Fight fiends first!" I shouted at the two blockheads.

**Play FFIX battle music now**

"Damned squirrels!" I shouted as I charged into the group of Mus in front of me, while drawing my blade. I slashed one before the rest knew what was going on. Then they all surrounded me. I drew in a deep breath as time seemed to slow. One jumped up from behind me. I slashed it in mid-air as another charged at me I reversed my blade and stabbed it in the face. At this point they all started to throw stones at me. _Damn,_ I thought to myself as the stones were about to hit me, _If I jump, all that will happen is me getting hit in mid-air! What the hell am I supposed to do!_

_Jump,_ The spirits voice echoed in my head, _Your next skill will look better when launched from the air,_

I decided to play along, and jumped as high as I could. From up here I could see that I got the most enemies as all the mus focused on me and the pythons split up among my friends. _Right I'm in the air so you mind filling me in on the plan?_ I asked the spirit,

_Now think of a raging fire enveloping all, Your energy will respond to that and form around your blade, _the spirit explained, _Once the flame is around your blade, drive it into the earth, the resulting shock wave will kill all of the mus._

I did as it said, pointing my blade towards the ground and having it next to my head. As the energy was forming I asked the voice, _This technique have a name?_

_Dark fire, its kinda crap but it does have fira and firaga equivalents._

_Sweet,_ The energy was fully formed around my blade as I reached the peak of my jump. "Dark Fire!" I shouted as I dived towards the mus. They all started to launch stones at me but the energy created black aura around me, destroying the stones before they reached me, "Its over!" I shouted as I reached the ground, plunging my blade into the earth. As soon as my blade touched the earth a wave of black fire echoed out from me and enveloped all the mus surrounding me, killing them all. I was breathing heavily afterwards though. I turned around to look towards where the others were, and saw that they were having trouble with the pythons, although there was a lot less. I pulled my blade out of the turf and started to head over to them.

_Wait,_ the spirit said, _You can kill the pythons from here!_

_Wha... How?_ I asked it, _Dark fire isn't a projectile,_

_Unholy thunder is though,_ It told me

_I'm guessing I have an ice attack similar to blizzard?_

_Nice guess,_

I stayed quiet for a while before asking, _So I'm guessing I have to think about lightning, the energy focuses around the blade, then I launch it from the blade at the Pythons?_ I asked it,

_You catch on quick,_

I stated to focus my energy, it seemed to be quicker than Dark fire. Once the energy was finished charging I thrust my blade towards the pythons while shouting, "Unholy thunder!" once I finished saying the name of the technique, a purple thunderbolt launched from my blade, and struck the first python before continuing on in a chain, killing all of them. I smiled that we survived but the exhaustion of using the techniques caught up to me and I fell to one knee panting heavily.

**Stop music now**

The rest of the group rushed over to me, "Whoa, nice attack," And similar praise came from everyone but Steiner,

"Are you an idiot? That was among the weaker of the Arcana skills of a Dark knight."

"How am I an idiot when I have no idea what their techniques are rusty?"

"Guys we need to keep moving" I said as I got back on my feet, my exhaustion forcing me to lean on my blade,

"Your not going anywhere after using that much mana," Garnet said angrily,

"Heh... you really are naïve aren't you, princess?" I said, looking directly at her with a small smile on my face,

"Princess," Steiner began, "Dark Knights don't use mana."

"What, but how did he use those techniques?"

"My actual stamina is the price for my techniques, which is also why I fainted after killing that huge plant." I finished,

Zidane, Vivi and Garnet are exceedingly surprised at this fact.

"The more stamina I put into each technique, the more damage it does," I explained, "How else do you think I killed all the mus?"

"If its stamina then..." Garnet mused aloud, then pulled out her staff and cast cure on me. I instantly felt better.

"That's better, thanks," I said to Garnet.

"Hey," Zidane said to get my attention, I turned to see a small pouch handed to me, "There are some potions in there, use them after each technique," He smiled slightly, "We do need you alive you know,"

"Heh," I said quietly, before stating to the whole group,"Cm-on, lets keep moving,"

**A.N. So what do you guys think, don't be afraid to review, and I don't really care if you criticize but just don't flame! Thanks guys and see you next time,**


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N. Thanks again for the reviews Shadow Knight1121 I do appreciate it, And to the rest of the people reading my story, reviews keep me going as they let me know my work is appreciated... anyway...**

**?: Wait! You forgot about the disclaimers!**

**Me: Oh yeah, I don't suppose...**

**?: ...I want a cookie for it this time...**

**Me: Fair deal,**

**?: owns nothing in this story except Himself, and any plot changes, now where's my cookie!**

**Me: Here you go, *Flips a cookie over to the spirit***

**?: YAY COOKIE!**

**Me: Okay... anyway enjoy the next chapter of FFIX: The Dark Knight...**

**Chapter 4**

We reached a small cavern with freezing winds blowing out from it. "This seems like the place," I said out loud, "Bloody freezing though," I muttered, rubbing my arms in a futile effort to keep warm.

"U-um..." Vivi said to get the attention of the rest of the group,

"What's up Vivi" Zidane asked,

"Have you ever heard of the Ice Cavern?" Vivi asked the group

"Sure... is this the place?" Zidane asked the young mage,

"I think so... its supposed to be near Evil Forest," Vivi explained,

"If the temperature is anything to judge by then this would be it," I muttered, still rubbing my arms, "I have heard it looks beautiful but I would rather not become an ice cube."

Everyone smiled at that comment before Vivi continued, "My grandpa told me about this place. He said the cavern takes travellers to the top of the Mist."

"Bravo!" Steiner suddenly burst out, "Master Vivi's grandfather must be quite a scholar! We must thank him upon escaping the mist!"

"My grandpa used to teach me lots of things, but he passed away..." Vivi said while twirling his thumbs,

We all look down awkwardly at this, after a few seconds Steiner states, "Oh... forgive my indiscretion."

"Don't worry about it," Vivi replied

"Well... why don't we go inside?" Zidane asked the group,

"Do we have to?" I asked him, "I'm cold enough already,"

"If we want to escape the mist then yes, we have to." Zidane stated,

"Damn..." I muttered,

**A.N. Guys I'm gonna skip ahead a bit to the crossroads since you should know what happens in ice cavern and I never liked this part in the storyline,**

We arrived at a crossroads in the cavern, and Zidane turned around to ask, "Ok so which way do we go guys?"

I look at both of the caves, both being equally light but the right one as I was looking at it had a blizzard blowing out of it, "Left" I state with no tone to argue in my voice,

"And your reasoning behind that is..?" Zidane asked me,

"Not wanting to become an ice cube." I stated as I walked towards the left cave opening, _Besides there is supposed to be a moogle in here,_ I thought to myself,

**Inside the left fork of the cave:**

As we entered the cave we saw that it was a small area with an altar in the centre towards the back of the cave with frozen plants surrounding it, everyone here was surprised at the beautiful sight, but what surprised me was the fact that there was a black sword stabbed into the altar instead of a frozen moogle, "What the..." I said in a hushed tone of voice,

Everyone looked at me oddly until they noticed the black sword. "Hey inst that the same type of sword you use Akio?" Zidane asked me,

"Yeah but..." I hesitated before talking about the moogle who was clearly not here, "Shouldn't it be in a treasure chest like your Mage Masher was?"

"Now that I think about it..." Zidane muttered,

"It must be... Yes it has to be!" Steiner suddenly shouted,

"You know something Rusty?" Zidane asked him,

"Quiet you ignorant monkey! Sir Akio, I want you to slowly approach the sword, if I'm right then a small black flame should appear in front of it" Steiner explained to me

I nodded and approached the blade, as soon as I was in the centre of the room, a small black flame appeared, stating, "_**Stop**_," in a voice that made it obvious it was once a she, The voice seemed to echo out from the flame,

Everyone except me and Steiner are startled by the fact that the flame can talk, "Erm... did that f-fire just talk..." Vivi stuttered out,

"_**Yes young black mage I did**_," The spirit said, "_**I am the Spirit inhabiting this sword**_,"

"May I know your name?" I asked politely,

"_**Angela,**_" She replied, "_**I was once a Dark Knight that served under the Burmecian flag**_,"

"I am Akio," I replied while bowing, "Currently unbound, and I am not certain who I once served due to amnesia,"

"_**... I sense another in you, yet I can tell there is only one, can you explain this for me?**_" Angela asked me,

"The other spirit and I are one in the same, albeit from different worlds," I explained, "We are literally the same personality and mentality, although he cant remember anything as well, apart from one thing."

"_**Oh?**_" Angela asked a tone of curiosity in her voice,

"That this body and his soul was the last of the Dark Knights and served under the flag of Alexandria til he left," I replied hearing to distinctly different gasps of surprise from both Steiner and Garnet,

"_**I see, and now I must test you before you may wield me,**_" Angela replied,

"And what will this test include?" I asked her with the apprehension clear in my voice,

"_**A riddle, nothing more, nothing less,**_" She replied,

"Then this shouldn't be too bad," I replied, "At least my life isn't on the line,"

"_**Then here is the riddle:**_

_**Mom and Dad have four daughters, and each daughter has one brother. How many people are in the family?**_

_**So what is the answer young Dark Knight?**_"

_Hmm, well..._

_**Typical Angela...**_The spirits voice laughed in my head

_What do you mean?_ I asked it,

_**I mean that she has always been obsessed by riddles,**_

_Heh, I'm guessing that I'm supposed to do this since Its my body now?_

_**Bingo**_

_Right well... there is two parents and four daughters, each having a brother... if you were to take it as a question instead of a riddle you would say 10 but that is clearly not the answer... hang on... there's only one brother! Which means the answer is..._

"7" I answered, "There are 7 in the family"

Angela chuckled "_**Well done Akio, now take my blade and be infused with me!**_"

"Thanks, Angela, oh and that other guy in there?" I said with a raised eyebrow,

"_**Yeah?**_" Angela asked,

"It seems he knows you as he said something about you being obsessed with Riddles," I told her while smirking,

"_**What! The only Dark Knight I knew that served under Alexandria was...**_" she then gasped at the end of the sentence and disappeared before saying, "**_Hurry up and get my sword, I want to meet him again!_**"

I smiled slightly before walking forward,

Once my hand touched the handle dark energy started swirling round the blade and enveloped it.

My eyes widen in surprise as the sword suddenly became a lot lighter in my hand, as the dark energy started to dispel I saw why. The sword had turned into a dagger, _Is this supposed to happen?_I asked myself,

_**'Yes it is,'**_ the voice I recognised as Angela replied, **_'The fact that the sword has transformed into its true form shows that I have acknowledged you as my new wielder'_**

_So you meet the other guy?_ I asked her,

_**'For some reason no,'**_ She replied, **_'I cant seem to see him...'_**

_Strange, he's usually there..._ I replied in a perplexed tone of thought, (A.N. How are you supposed to say that? Tone of thought doesn't seem right...) _Yo you in here!_ I thought out loud to try and get his attention.

_**Yeah I'm here,**_ He replied,

_**'That voice! Cecil!' **_Angela exclaimed

_**Yeah its me Angela, Its good to hear you again,**_ The voice who is named Cecil replied,

_Dude your called Cecil? And your a Dark Knight?_ I asked him,

_**Yeah that's why I didn't introduce myself, your memories of FF4 made it awkward.**_

_Anyway we need to get moving so can you guys catch up without me listening in?_ I asked them

_**'Yeah we should be able to.'**_ Angela replied,

_Good,_ I thought as I turned around to see everyone's faces looking at me in perplexity which is when I realised, _Oh shit... I revealed I'm from another world didn't I..._

**A.N. So what do you guys think? Oh and so you don't get confused here are who is talking in the mind and when:**

_Akio_

_**Cecil**_

_**'Angela'**_

**So please R+R, and I really want to know what you guys think...**


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N. Thanks for reviewing Shadow knight1121 and Project-Apocolypse, I appreciate your views and the fact that your staying with me through the story, anyway I'm planning to write my stories depending on how many reviews I get, e.g. this story has the most for now so ill stick with this one for now.**

**Angela: I think they get it**

**Me: Yeah I kinda rambled on a bit there...**

**Angela: Yeah so get on with the story!**

**Me: Sorry but I need the disclaimer done**

**Angela: Oh, fine! But I want a cookie!**

**Me: Okay...**

**Angela: Yay! owns nothing in this story except his S.I. Akio, and his OC's: Me and Cecil**

**Me: *flips a cookie over to Angela's spirit***

**Angela: YAY! COOKIE!**

**Me: *Sigh* why are all Dark Knights obsessed with cookies? Especially since they cant eat them...**

**Angela: *Is munching on the cookie through the spirit moving up and down* hmm, you say something**

**Me: *Giant anime sweat-drop appears on head* Erm... no, anyway to all my readers enjoy the next chapter of FFIX: The Dark Knight...**

**Chapter 5**

"I'm guessing you guys want an explanation?" I asked them as they are all looking at me with really perplexed looks on their faces. They all nod slowly. "Then lets set a Tent up," I said to all of them, "Its likely to take a while and frankly I would rather not talk while turning into a meat popsicle." I chuckle a little at my own reference, as I turned and cleared a space for a fire.

**A few hours later:**

"Well, where should I begin?" I asked them as we gathered round the fire,

"Maybe that bit about you being from another world?" Zidane asked with a sarcastic tone of voice,

I sighed, "Fine, but as I said earlier I don't remember much," I said sadly as I looked to the roof,

**A.N. I'm gonna skip the description of the world and get to the point where I tell you his past,**

"And your past?" Vivi asked me,

"Heh, I wondering who would ask me that," I said grinning, "Well my life was going fairly normally til I hit 16, which is when I lost both my parents to a mass murderer..." I stay quiet for a moment, "I didn't know it at the time but he was after me..." I said with quiet gravity, causing everyone to gasp, "Anyway, my life went back on track again for another few years, even had a wife and kid..." I said looking down sadly into the flame, "Once I hit 20, the killer came to call again, killing both of them..."

"What!" Everyone exclaimed,

"This time was a little different however... he left a small note by my wife's corpse stating 'If you want revenge for the family I killed, I will come back here in 5 days. Be ready.' 4 days after that I went to my family's mass grave, and I swore then and there, 'I will not let this ass-hole live another moment once I meet him! I don't care if it costs me my life, I will make sure that bastard goes to hell!'

"After what he did to you I can see why you would think that..." Garnet said quietly

"At least you understand," I said, the painful memories nearly ripping my insides apart, "Needless to say I met him 5 days later, and he stated 'I don't care if I die here, but I will make sure to kill of the last of the Matsuki line and finish off the remainder of the Dark Knights!' At the time I thought he was crazy, due to our world not having Dark Knights, but after coming here..." I left the thought hanging, "The fight was long and at the end it seemed like I won, but as I turned to leave, he threw a knife right at my back, killing me, but luckily for me I had done enough to finish him off!" I said the last bit with great satisfaction, "Next thing I remember is waking up at Evil Forest," I finished,

"Whoa..." Zidane said, "That's... a lot to take in..."

"My past and my world, like you asked," I replied to that,

"Sir Akio..." Steiner started,

"Yes?" I asked him,

"Is it true that you were once the Dark Knight that once served under the Alexandrian Flag?" He asked me,

"This body, and another soul inside me, called Cecil," I corrected him, "He would have died if I didn't die when I did..."

"So you saved the greatest warrior ever to serve under Alexandria..." Steiner said quietly, He then stood up and bowed to me, "I thank you for saving the soul of my teacher Sir Cecil,"

"He was your teacher?" I asked him,

"Yes he was, didn't he tell you?" Steiner said as he sat back down with a perplexed look on his face,

"No, he was too close to deaths door so he lost most of his memories apart from his name, and his old kingdom." I explained to him,

"Oh..." Steiner said disappointed,

"We need to get some sleep," I pointed out, "If you have any more questions, save them for the morning," Everyone nodded as the Guys gathered round the fire, and Garnet took the Tent,

**Next Morning:**

I was up first, shortly followed by Steiner and Zidane. They soon started to bicker and woke up Vivi and Garnet. "Right lets get moving," I said to get everyone's attention, "We ought to be out of the mist by the end of today,"

We went back to the crossroads and went down the other path, the blast of cold wind was like Giant sledgehammers smashing me with coldness, we were all walking through the blizzard, when Zidane noticed that Vivi was lagging behind, "Vivi, hurry up, or you'll be left behind!"

"I...I'm coming." Was his reply, I noticed something odd as we started walking though, Vivi wasn't watching where he was going and walked straight into a pit,

"Hey Vivi!" I shouted but by the time the words left my lips he had fell. Steiner went over to the pit asking, "Master Vivi! Are you ok?" he looked down but as he turned around to face us he fell as well,

"Starting a trend?" I muttered to myself, _I'm not going to fall asleep,_ I told myself, _I cant let Zidane fight the black waltz alone!_

Zidane went over to the pit and asked, "Yo, Rusty! You're... not alright are you?" He then put one of his hands to his face and asked, "What happened to you guys?" Before jumping down and kicking Steiner to try and wake him up, Unfortunately though the Blizzard picked up and knocked me out at that point,

**A few moments later:**

I woke up to the sound of a bell, Once I woke up and looked around I saw that Vivi and Steiner were still in the pit, Garnet was lying near me and Zidane was also waking up, I rushed over to him, asking, "Hey, you hear that bell?"

"Yeah, wonder what it was..." Zidane stated,

"I was gonna go and check it out, Want to come with?" I asked him,

"Sure," He replied, as we walked into the next room

**In the waterfall room:**

We had slowly made our way to the next room, keeping a hold of our separate bodies in order to keep whatever body warmth we had left. Inside the room was a frozen waterfall with a winding path leading to an open cave mouth, The bell rung again, and a voice echo's out from the top of the waterfall, "Why didn't you two fall asleep?"I pulled out Cecil's sword and Angela's dagger in my right and left hands as I looked up and saw a figure in red clothing with a steeple hat, its shadow covering its face, But the most striking feature about him was his blue wings,

"You should be dead by now..."

Zidane shouted out, "Are you the one causing this blizzard?"

He then jumped down and slowly laughed, before stating, "That's right!" and rung his bell again before attacking us,

**Play 'FFIX Boss battle' music now**

"Its two on one," Zidane confidently stated,

_You do realise that you probably just jinxed it?_ I thought to myself as he chuckled before casting a giant Ice pillar right next to himself,

"Come forth, Sealion!" _Yep, he jinxed it,_ I thought to myself as a giant blue creature with two wings for arms wearing a mask and having a small blue gem attached to its chest.

"I had to jinx it didn't I?" Zidane voices my thoughts out loud,

I sighed before stating, "Chances are that he heals the giant creature so keep it off my back,"

Zidane nods and charges towards Sealion, as I start walking towards the mage, who asks with a condescending tone in his voice, "You think you can take me, A Black Waltz, on alone!" And he then proceeds to double over in laughter, "I have taken down so many warriors of so many different callings that its funny!" The Black waltz stated, still laughing his head off,

"What about a Dark Knight?" I ask him grinning,

"What!" He suddenly snaps up straight, as I charge towards him, I try to slash him but he dodges, "A Dark Knight huh? Well this ought to be different," He said while smirking, "Blizzard!" He shouted and swung his bell towards me, And a giant ice crystal forms in front of him aiming at my head, I block it by holding my two weapons in an X shape.

"You really are pathetic aren't you?" I asked him while smirking,

"DONT MOCK ME!" he shouted as he began to launch Blizzard after Blizzard at me,

I decided that it was time to end this and began focusing for a Dark Fire attack, _Lets go for light and quick this time,_ I said to my self as I lumped to the side and charged at him with my attack at the ready, I yelled at the top of my voice "EAT THIS YOU ASSHOLE! DARK FIRE!" and stabbed my blade into him,

Unfortunately for me he just managed to get out of the way and only lost his left arm instead of his life,

I growled at missing and prepared for my blizzard attack, _The atmosphere of this place should help my attack,_ As I charged at him again I swung my sword shouting "Obsidian Blizzard!" And I could tell he was going to dodge so I swung my blade into the frozen ground, he dodged back smirking, then his eyes narrowed during the jump and then they widen in realisation as my Obsidian Blizzard launched black Icicles from the ground and made him more holy than the pope, _Heh, religion joke,_(A.N. Sorry if I offended any religious people there) I chuckle to myself as he breathed his dying breath, "Sealion... kill them... for... me ugh..." As he slowly faded into mist,

I then ran over to Zidane who had a new dagger hanging from his belt, _Yo Angela, what Techniques you got for me?_ I decided to ask her, due to the fact that I am facing a giant monster.

_**'I've been waiting!'**_ She shouted at me with full volume,

_**Well if you deafen him he's probably gonna end up dead,**_ Cecil said, defending me,

I dodged a wing trying to hit me, _I agree with Cecil there_

_**'Right I got three techniques to teach you, Dark Shard, Shockwave and Shadow Step,'**_

I jump back from the Sealion to have a small break. _I'm guessing that Dark Shard is a projectile, Shockwave is self explanatory and Shadow Step is a quick move skill that puts me in front of an enemy's weak point?_ I asked her,

_**'Nice guesses,'**_ Angela replied,

I smirk slightly, putting away Cecil's sword and swapping Angela's dagger to my right hand, holding it backhanded, so the flat side of the blade ran against my hand. I start focusing my energy into the blade and shouted out, "Dark Shard!" And slashed towards the gem on Sealion's chest. A small black, dagger shaped, mass of black energy launched itself towards the beast. It managed to move enough to stop it hitting the gem but it sunk itself into the flesh near it, which also cause the gem on its chest to go from blue to red. The energy ceased once it dealt the wound to the beast. _Shockwave isn't gonna be much use in this fight so..._ "Zidane! Go for the Jewel on its chest!" I then look around and see that Zidane is starting to glow. "Wha..."

The light suddenly grew so bright I had to cover my eyes. When the light died down I looked over at Zidane and saw that his clothes had been replaced by pink fir covering his chest at various places.

"Alright! We just won this fight!" Zidane shouted,

"W-what the hell!" I said in a quiet tone of voice

"Dude, its cool," Zidane reassured me, "Its just Trance."

"That's Trance!" I said exceedingly loudly, "You just lost most of your clothes dude!"

"Eh, It always happens to me, and don't worry they come back."

"Then lets finish this guy!" I shouted, "Keep his attention, I'll go for the gem," I told him while running round to the Sealion's shadow.

"Easily done!" Zidane smirked before charging his energy and shouting, "Tidal Flame!" Launching a huge tidal flame of fire, (A.N. If the name isn't a massive clue I don't know what is.)

Unfortunately the Sealion decided to launch a Tsunami attack at the same time. The resulting clash took all the focus of the two beings involved so neither of them noticed that I had Angela's knife in front of my face and that I shouted "Shadow Step!" While jumping towards the creature. Next thing I knew was that I was in front of the gem on the Sealion's chest. I decided to take my chances and swung Angela's dagger at full force at it. Once the Dagger hit the gem a massive crack appeared in it. This caused it to roar and drop its Tsunami attack. Luckily for me the Tidal Flame attack didn't even reach me, Due to it taking too much of Zidane's energy and causing him to revert just as the Tsunami dropped. The gem however exploded which caused me to be sent flying backwards into a snow pile.

"Akio!" Zidane shouted as he ran over to me,

I managed to dig myself out of the Snow Pile in time to see the Sealion's body just break apart slowly as it revealed a large serpent like creature (A.N. Imagine a small Leviathan), It spoke, "_Thank you, both of you for freeing me from that monsters control."_

"W-who are you?" Zidane asked, the fear evident in his tone,

"He looks like Lord Leviathan, the Eidolon of water..." I told him,

"_Close, I am his child,_" The creature explained to us, "_That gem you destroyed was the tool he used to control my mind and do his bidding,_"

"Why didn't your father stop him?" I asked it,

"_He was sealed, some time ago, for being too strong..._" The creature said, looking down as it said it, "_I am his only child, and my mother died some time ago..._"

I sigh before asking, "What is your name?"

"_It is actually Sealion_" Sealion said, (A.N. The only reason he kept the name was because I was too lazy to think of a name for it) "_Anyway, I have a reward for you,_" It said, grabbing both of our attentions.

A fair sized brown bag appeared in front of Sealion's head and slowly drifted down to the floor, Me and Zidane slowly walked over to it. Once we reached it I asked Sealion, "So what's in the bag?"

"_20,000 Gil and 2 of each gemstone,_" It replied, "_But now I must leave, I have exhausted too much energy in this realm as it is,_"

"Farewell then," I told it, as it slowly disappeared into sparks of light, "Anyway we need to get back to the others Zidane," I told him, breaking his concentration on the bag which was now in hi hands, "And perhaps I should hold onto that,"

He handed the bag to me and said, "Fine but I want half the Gil in there."

**A.N. So what do you guys think, and I'm making Akio stronger than the rest of the group for a very specific reason, But it will balance out by disc 2, so please review and DON'T FLAME! Thanks and bye!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N. Thanks again for reviewing, Shadow knight1121, and I plan to have unique OC's added each disc equivalent, They wont be introduced at the start but you will notice them,**

**Akio: Anything to do with...**

**Me: Yes and don't say any more or you will give it away, oh and if someone guesses their origins then I will tell them, that's the kind of guy I am.**

**Akio: But I'm guessing you wont go into too much detail in fear of a spoiler?**

**Me: Bingo, now I need someone to do the disclaimer, Anyone?**

***Silence fills the room***

**Me: C'mon do it and you get a cookie,**

**Vivi: Erm... Ill do it then... owns nothing except his OC and any plot changes.**

**Me: Thank you Vivi, that means now, you, my loyal reader's, can enjoy the next chapter of FFIX: The Dark Knight... *Does dramatic bow***

**Chapter 6**

Zidane headed back towards the group first, as I sighed and reached down to take a quick drink from one of the potions from the pouch Zidane handed me a while ago. As I turned around to head back to the group, I head a voice echo in the cave,

"You defeated No.1 but No.2 and No.3 will reclaim the princess, you Traitor!"

I didn't even had to look at them as I knew where they were. "How am I a traitor if I am not the same person you thought you knew?" I asked Zorn and Thorn. I heard them catch their breath in surprise and them running away before I decided to head back to the group. _Steiner's probably accusing Zidane of touching up the Princess or something._

_What a guess._ I got back just in time to hear the accusation, "You... didn't touch the Princess, did you?" He accused while shaking a fist at Zidane.

"The fact that I awoke before Zidane and you accuse him of doing that means you suspect me of that as well." I stated calmly as I walked up to the group.

That fact seemed to hit him like a dammed wrecking ball as he face planted the floor in surprise before rapidly bowing and saying, "Forgive me Master Akio, Forgive me!" Over. And. Over. Again.

I sigh and hold my head in one hand before stating, "Then get your facts straight before accusing someone again." I then remove my hand from my head and ask, "So we ready to go?" After a resounding sound of approval from the group and after Steiner picked himself up we got moving.

**Outside:**

I walked (read: Ran) Out first and "Oh dear god, THANK YOU," And started bowing towards the sun. Everyone else were exhibiting similar signs of agreement but none quite so drastic as mine. I sigh as I get up, having noticed Dali in the distance. "Well there's a village there but Garnet," I said, getting her attention, "Your gonna need a different identity."

"WHAT!" Steiner shouted from behind me.

I sigh before stating, "I'll go scout out the area while you think of your new identity," I then motion towards Dali, "Ill see you in the inn there." I then jump off the cliff nearby and do a mid-air flip, landing on my feet, before running at high speeds across the plain. _I'm just guessing here, but I have you to thank for my, now awesome ass agility don't I Angela?_

_**'Bingo'**_

I chuckled slightly as I slowed down near to Dali, _If I remember correctly..._, I didn't manage to finish that thought as I heard a voice from behind me,

"Excuse me?" It said, And I smirked slightly as I identified it, the friendly Mu,

I turn around to see it and it looks a lot cuter in person. "Yes?" I asked it,

"Erm, Do you have any ore I could have?" It said, fiddling with its hands, obviously nervous,

I smile slightly before reaching into the pouch of gems and pulling out two pieces of ore for it (So glad I had multiple from killing those unfriendly mus earlier) "Yeah, have these," Before handing them to it. (A.N. I know Mu only asks for one, but I think that Mu is the best friendly Monster so I'm giving him an extra one.)

It looked directly at my eyes as it took them. It's eyes actually started to glow with gratitude before it started to jump and run circles around me like a 5 year old that has eaten a truck load of sugar in about 5 seconds. When it eventually calmed down, It asked me, "Thank you mister, is there any way I can repay you?"

I though about it for a moment before asking, "How about you come with me on my journey?" That could be awesome, "You wont need to fight if you don't want to, I just need a Trustworthy friend."

It looked up at my smiling, "Of course I will."

I snapped my fingers, realising that we hadn't introduced ourselves yet. "That's right! We need to introduce ourselves to each other, I'm Akio, you?"

"I don't have a name." It said as it looked down sadly,

"How about Koro?" I asked it,

"Sounds cool!" Koro replied.

"Then lets get moving, we need to reach Dali soon."

**A.N. The rest of the trip is uneventful.**

**Dali:**

Koro had jumped up to my left shoulder to show that he wasn't chasing me, and it seemed that the Villagers didn't mind, "Lets get you a collar first, then lets get to the inn to wait for my friends." I told him.

"Alright," Instantly understanding why he needed a collar, (A.N. In case you haven't figured it out, People can tame monster in this fanfiction, but they need a collar to show that they have been tamed, otherwise its kill on sight.)

I walked into the building on the right with the sign of a sword over a shield hanging over the door. Inside were piles of, what I assumed was, the shops merchandise, at the opposite end of the room I noticed a girl behind the counter, she then noticed me and asked, "Welcome, Are you here for a collar for the little guy?"

"Nice guess," I told her while smiling, "How much?"

"Actually, this shop hands out collars for free, if its the persons first tamed monster,"

"Nice" I said, with a big grin on my face,

"Hold on while I get it." She said as she disappeared round a corner.

At that point I decided to look around and see if there was anything I liked the look of, Unfortunately I didn't find anything before the girl got back with a Black Leather collar and a small Ocarina. "What's the Ocarina for?" I asked her,

"Its a gift for your first time shopping here," She replied.

"Thanks." I said as I picked up the collar and said to Koro, "Here, Let me put this on you." He hopped onto the table with his back facing me so that I would have a easier time putting it on him. Once it was on it snapped on with a click. I shrugged and picked up the Ocarina before walking over to the Inn, (Which was directly opposite, helpful)

Inside there was a guy sleeping on the desk, there was also a moogle near a stove in the corner of the room. I walk over to the Innkeeper and smashed my hand on his desk, waking him instantly. Well, when I say woke, he actually jumped up and face planted the roof.

"Erm, could I have a room please?" I asked him once he landed in his chair, clutching his face in agony, "I need it to accommodate another 4 people on top of me,"

"Yeah... the biggest room we got has 4 beds..." He replied,

I sighed again, (How many times is that today?), "I'll take that one then, How much?"

"200 Gil"

I handed over the money and said, "You should recognise the rest of them as one has a tail, and one is wearing a big suit of armour."

He nodded and said, "I'll point them to the same room, Door at the end of the corridor." He said pointing to the Door near the stove. "We also have hot spring services for guests, they are on the door to the right, near your room."

"Thanks for the info," I said as I headed to my room.

**Inside the rented room:**

The room has 4 beds along with a desk on the left wall and a bookshelf on the right. I decided to get some sleep before the others arrive.

**A number of hours later:**

I woke to the sound of armour clanking in the corridor outside. I smiled slightly when I noticed that Koro was still sleeping next to me. _I wonder how they are going to react to Koro?_ Just then the door burst open and the gang walked through, Koro awoke startled due to this and hid behind me as I sat up, "Hey guys!"

"Yo,"

"Hello"

"Hi"

"Greetings"

"I miss anything important?" I asked them,

"Not really, other than Dagger's new name," Zidane answered me, while pointing his thumb at Dagger, "And us?"

"Other then a new party member, no" I told them, "Say hi Koro,"

Koro poked his head out from behind my back, "H-hello..." he said before retreating back behind me,

"Aww, so cute!" Dagger exclaimed,

"So I take it you don't mind?" I asked them,

"As long as he is tame I don't care," Zidane said,

"Me n-nether" Vivi stuttered in

"If he serves under you, Master Akio, then I have no quarrels with him," Steiner stated in his powerful voice,

"See there's no reason to be scared of them," I told Koro who was still hiding behind me,

He decided to jump onto my shoulder at that point, "So, what's the plan?" I asked the group,

"I plan on heading to Lindblum," Dagger told me,

"Well were gonna need some sleep for that so g'night everyone," I said as I lay down to get some sleep,

**A.N. So what do you think? Oh and the introduction of Koro was something completely random, (Props if you can tell me from where I got the name) so R+R and No Flames! Thanks and bye!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N. Once again, thanks for reviewing Shadow knight1121, and thanks for your review****Red Reality and if you like this fic then you better thank Shadow Knight1121 as well as he is the one keeping this fic going, anyway, I need an OC for the Festival of the hunt, and no they wont be in the main party, more like a temp position like Blank in Evil forest, (so they wont have trance) but I want at least one OC to go with one group at the split off point,**

**Steiner: I think they get it, and if you keep going you could spoil the plot for them,**

**Me: Ah, well I think I should tell you what I'm after, their name, description, Class (Preferably not one used in the game, and not a red mage), and preferred weaponry. Leave them in reviews!**

**Akio: Shouldn't we get this fic moving?**

**Me: Ah, yes, but I need someone to do the Disclaimer, **

**Koro: I-ill do it.. owns nothing except his OC's and Any plot changes,**

**Me: Good boy Koro, Have a cookie! *Flips a cookie over to Koro***

**Koro begins munching on the cookie,**

**Me: Now enjoy the next chapter of, FFIX: The Dark Knight...**

**Chapter 7**

I woke earlier than the others again, Vivi sleeping in the other bed near the door, Dagger in the far one, and Zidane in the other one near to me, Steiner was sleeping on the floor between Zidane and Dagger. I smiled, and woke Koro so that we could have a look round the village. Koro woke slowly and looked around, noticing that everyone else was asleep. When he looked towards me I put a finger to my lips, to indicate for him to be quiet. He nodded and jumped onto my shoulder. I left the rest of them sleeping and slowly closed the door behind me. I decided to head into the hot springs before heading out to look around, "Koro," I said quietly, "Go have a look round the village for me while I wash up,"

"Ok" Koro said to me, and scampered out,

I headed into the room indicated by the Inn keeper yesterday to notice to pathways, clearly marked '-Female' and 'Male-' I smiled slightly and headed right, As soon as I turned the corner, I saw that it was a giant Hot spring split in half by wooden boards so that each side could have as much privacy as possible. I shrugged, and tested the water before removing my clothes and jumping in. When the water had settled down I decided to talk to the other people in my head, _Yo, you guys in there?_ I asked,

_**Where else would we be?**_ Cecil replied,

_Sorry stupid question,_ I apologized,_ So anyway, I was wondering, what kind of abilities can I expect in the future?_

_**'Well I can mimic the jump ability of the Dragon Knights of Burmecia but it wont go as high, nor will it do as much damage,'**_ Angela told me,

_**And essentially there are a high number of us Dark Knights, unfortunately it seems that someone or something decided to hunt us down and kill us off...**_

_Wait a moment,_ I interrupted, _The guy who killed me said something about finishing off the Dark Knights._

_**What!**_ **_'What!'_** Both of them exclaimed at the same time,

_You mind looking into my memories of my death,_ I asked them, _Anything you find could be vital later on..._

_**Of course not, but if we do that, it might rise unbidden in your head at a crucial point,**_

_Well then stop looking if something vital is going on._

_**'Er... I already tried to look into those memories,'**_ Angela Pointed out, **_'They have been locked away by your own heart, so that you wont be hurt by the memory of your families death'_**

_Damn, it that info might be vital! _I essentially shouted at them, _The asshole that killed my family might be alive in this world!_

_**But your family might be as well,**_ Cecil pointed out.

I stop for a moment and think, _now that you mention it... they might be... but would I meet them..._ I keep thinking through the possibilities until I realise something, T_he storyline! That's how Ill meet up with them again! But... how will I recognise them? _I start to sink into despair,

_**I think I know,**_

_What, really?_

_**That cloak you had on when you woke, I was not wearing that as pushed that moogle out of the way of that Prison Cage.**_

_Then that means that the cloak came with my soul._ I then realise something, _Cecil, is there anything on the cloak like a symbol or something?_

_**Lemme check, Seems to be an odd symbol on the buckle, like a black sword with bat wings for the guard pointed downwards...**_

_Wait, I had a necklace like that when I was alive, my wife had an angel one and my child had one that was half and half._

_**Then that will be how you will recognise them, chances are there buckles have similar designs,**_

_Well chances are my wife and child will recognise me first, they were more in tune with the spiritual bonds between us, so they will probably recognise me before I recognise them, although... _I smile to myself, _I would say I've gotten in touch with my spirit side lately._

_**'Hold on for a moment,'**_

_What is it Angela?_

_**'Are you sure the person said that you had the potential of being a Dark Knight?'**_

_Yeah, but what's puzzling me is why I don't have my own sword..._

_**'You mean that that isn't your sword that you had strapped to your back?'**_

_I thought it was Cecil's,_

_**It is**_

_**'Then where the hell is Akio's?'**_

_**It seems that he has yet to awaken to his own potential, I think that he holds 'that' skill...**_

_**'You serious?'**_

_Wait what skill we talking about here?_

_**You don't need to know at this point in time, But it is the strongest Arcana skill.**_

_Then I agree that I shouldn't know of it, I lose a lot of my strength per skill already..._

_**'Trust us, the energy drain will lessen, its always hard at first,'**_

_That's good to know,_ I then realised something, _Cecil, how alike do we look?_

_**Perfect twins, why?**_

_If we look alike, then wouldn't It make sense that the other people like us would as well?_

_**Y'know that makes sense... Although I did get a scar when I saved that moogle in Evil Forest,**_

_So, your memories are coming back are they?_

_**I think that people have to mention the Event in order for me to remember...**_

_Tch, shame... Hang on a scar?_

_**Right across the face, have a look, the water has settled,**_

Cecil was telling the truth, right across my face, going over both my eyelids was a scar, nearly reaching the tip of my nose in thickness.

_With this it might be harder for my family to recognise me..._

I decided to end the conversation with my inner spirits and rest for a while before leaving to look around the village

**A few minutes later:**

I was just getting ready to leave the hot springs when I heard 'Melodies of Life', the song that Dagger always sung when she was lonely. I then started, realising that ,Even though she never played the game, My wife always sung this song, (I only just realised this now as I haven't played the game in years, (A.N. I just started again recently so don't worry about that)) I don't know what that foretells but I know for certain that I will meet her again in this world, along with my child.

**A few minutes later, Outside the Inn:**

I had just left the inn after getting changed, When Koro jumped onto my shoulder, "Hey Koro, so you get a feel for the village?" I asked him,

"Yeah, I also picked this up from the building connected to the Windmill," Koro said as he handed me a key, I smile lightly as I realise what key this was,

"Well why don't we find out where this key leads to?" I asked Koro, who nodded enthusiastically,

**A short while later, in the windmill:**

I had just found the 'Aries' Stellazzio coin and had walked up to the door that gets unlocked by the 'Mayors Key' which Koro had just found. I walked up to it and unlocked it, And saw the chest at the other end of the small pathway. I walked up to it and opened it, revealing a pouch that holds, if I am not mistaken, 30,000 Gil. I retrieve it, putting it in the pouch that holds all my personal items, with my half of the money from Sealion, _That reminds me, I'm gonna have to give Zidane his half,_ And I moved the chest slightly to retrieve the Coffee underneath, _Not a coffee fan myself but I'm sure my kid would like the Model._ I get up from kneeling down to get to the chest and start walking towards the Windmill when I saw Vivi standing there by himself, so I decided to vault over the wall and surprise him.

**Other side of the wall:**

"Hey Vivi," I said as soon as my feet touched the ground,

He started then looked and realised it was me, "H-hello Mr. Akio... and you too Koro"

I smile slightly, "Vivi I get enough formality from Steiner so please could you drop the Sir?"

I could tell that he was relived as he said, "Okay, Akio"

"So you seen anyone else around?" I asked him

"Zidane was still sleeping when I woke but everyone else was gone." Vivi told me,

"Ah, so you ok? You seemed a little jumpy" I said to him, concern eating at me.

"It's just that the kids are not being friendly. They seem to be avoiding me." Vivi told me while looking down.

I look at him with sympathy as I said, "It's ok Vivi, your unique, and most people fear those who are different from themselves, although most people who fear others just because they are different are just bloody idiotic, so don't worry about it my friend." I said to him with a reassuring smile on my face,

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Zidane said as he walked up to me,

"Why don't you get up later? It would save you a day." I said to him while smirking,

"Ha." Zidane said to me, "Anyway, Akio is right Vivi, Most people are idiotic enough to fear that which they do not know or understand, like those kids," Zidane said looking directly at Vivi, "But not everyone is like that,"

"I know, I have met my share of friendly people" Vivi said, "Oh and I keep hearing a sound like 'Kweh',"

"Oh that is a Chocobo, but its odd, I don't see any around," I said while looking around,

"That is odd, ah well I got to get moving and were meeting at the inn later alright?" Zidane said to us both,

"Alright" I said,

"Ok" Vivi said,

Zidane then waved and left, towards the shop, "Well I better get moving as well, I haven't seen as much as I wanted to of this village so I'm gonna keep looking around before heading back to the Inn alright?" I said to Vivi,

"Ok, see you later Akio," Vivi said to me as I walked away,

"See you Vivi," I said with a two finger salute over my shoulder, as I walked out to the field,

The field wasn't that interesting so I decided to head to the shop and see if I could get any better armour for myself, As soon as I walked in I saw Dagger looking at the wares on the side facing away from the Village, I lightly smile as I walk over to her and put my hand on her shoulder and said, "So this is where you were?" She Jolted a little until I said, "Relax its me, Akio" She looked at me and visibly relaxed, "So found any good pieces of armour I could wear?"

"They are selling the bronze series and the armour of which you should be able to wear under your travelling clothes." Dagger told me, "Its fairly cheap, being at 650 Gil,"

"Awesome, so Zidane tell you the plan?" I ask her,

She nodded as she said, "He said to go back to the Inn, which I am about to do, want to join me?"

I shook my head as I said, "I want to get that armour first,"

She smiled slightly as she said, "Alrighty, I'll see you there"

"Your defiantly getting the hang of it Dagger" I told her as she left,

As soon as she had left, I walked up to the counter and asked, "You got any suits of Bronze armour I could wear under this?" While motioning with my hand at my current clothes,

She examined what I was wearing before stating, "I think I got the right suit your size," Before running back around the corner and returning with a small breastplate made of bronze,

"That aught to work," I said as I took the Armour, "How much?" I ask,

"650 is the usual price but for you... 500 Gil,"

I smiled slightly as I handed over the money and said, "Thanks for the discount, I appreciate it,"

She smiled as she said, "It's ok, I'm just showing appreciation for taking that Mu in, He was treated horribly by most travellers."

I smile and say, "I've met my fair share of friendly monsters, All they want from you is a gemstone or two, Anyway, better get moving, see ya later!" I said as I walked away with a two finger salute over my shoulder,

**A short while later, in the inn:**

I walked in to see the Innkeeper sleeping, so I decided to smash my fist into his desk again and watch the results, However this time was slightly different due to the cat being on the desk and jumping as well, Straight onto his head and it must have dug its claws in or something as the guy started to scream in pain.

The whole spectacle was amusing to say the least, not to mention the fact that he started to run round in circles with the cat clawing his face off,

I left for the rented room,

**The room at the Inn:**

I entered and saw Dagger sitting and Zidane standing near the beds, Talking about the lack of adults, "I used to see them on the farm that's next to the village,"

"That farm is now being tended by one old lady," I said to both of them, Startling them slightly, "And any more people would crowd it,"

"I know, something is very wrong here, we will leave as soon as Vivi gets here" Zidane said,

"Oh, that reminds me, here Zidane," I said as I handed him his half of the cash from Sealion,

"Thanks dude," Zidane said with a smile on his face, "I was wondering if you were ever gonna give it to me,"

"I don't need it, I just found 30K Just before," I told him with a grin that essentially split my face in two,

Their eyes essentially popped from their sockets, "Wha... how?" Zidane asked me,

"Koro found a Key and it opened a door that led to that chest, It also had some coffee beans in it," I explained, leaving out the location of the key,

"Whoa... you lucky..." Zidane started before Dagger interrupted,

"As long as you contribute to the groups medicine's you can buy what you want with that money," Dagger said with a serious face,

"I got no problem with that," I said to her,

"Hey, did I ever tell you..." Zidane started before going into one of his stories from being a thief with Tantalus,

**A number of hours later:**

I must have fallen asleep during Zidane's narration as I suddenly woke up shouting "**HOLY SHIT, THE CAKE IS A LIE!**" With which both of them looked at me awkwardly, I sweat-dropped and stated, "Please tell me I did not just say that the cake was a lie out loud.", They slowly nodded at me, "Shity, shity Fu-" I started to swear before Dagger interrupted,

"Hang on, Vivi isn't back yet..."

"How long has it been?" I ask, Dread forming in my stomach,

"A few hours, why?" Zidane said to me,

Sudden realisation hit me like a bloody sledgehammer, "**SHIT!**" I shout extremely loudly, "I knew something was wrong with this Village the moment Vivi mentioned the Chocobo's 'Kweh'"

They both look at me with confused looks on their faces, "What do you mean Akio?" Zidane asked me,

"Think about it, How could he hear a 'Kweh' if there were no Chocobo's nearby?" I pause for a second to see if they get it, "A damned underground Facility!" I essentially shout,

"Wait what?" They both look even more confused,

"Alright, we are going to look at where Vivi was standing, If I'm right then there will be an air pipe or something similar." I state,

**Outside the Windmill:**

I was standing at the exact point Vivi was at, And I stopped my breathing for a second to see if I could hear anything, However I didn't expect what I did hear, which was someone at the point of tears, I snap my eyes open and look at the floor, noticing the small white pipe in the corner next to the windmill, and said down it, "Vivi, that you?"

I hear his voice come back up the pipe, "Akio, that you?"

"Yeah, It's me dude, Hold still were on our way," I said as I looked at Dagger and Zidane with a 'Told you so' expression on my face, "Chances are the entrance is in the Windmill, Its the only non conspicuous place where the entrance wouldn't be obvious,"

**After jumping down the Entrance shaft:**

We found the entrance no problem, and started to walk down the corridor, at the end of it was Vivi standing in a small round room with a thin chimney reaching the roof of the cave, _That explains the small pipe,_ I thought to myself as two guys walk in from the other side of the room, Mutter something to Vivi and started to leave while pushing him, I saw Zidane try to go for them but was pulled back by Dagger, I decided to join them instead of doing something stupid, And I heard Dagger say something about the patterns on the barrels here were similar to the patterns on the castle, I wasn't paying much attention, I was focused on getting Vivi back. **_Wait a moment,_**

_What?_

_**Have a look at that pattern on the Barrels, if what I remember is correct then...**_

I shrugged an looked at the barrel, noticing the star like pattern on it, _This sparking anything Cecil?_

_**Yes, these are why I left Alexandria for travelling, which didn't get too far before I was forced off the cliff and into evil forest,**_

I was startled to say the least, but I kept it to myself as said to the other two, "C'mon we need to save Vivi and find out what the hell is going on in this damned place!" Both of them nodded and we walked down the path,

**Next room, the one with the Factory machine and Vivi in it:**

We walked into this room, Well, Zidane ran, and I heard something that sounded a little too familiar. Someone was crying.

I hated that sound.

The sound of people who didn't deserve it, suffering...

I noticed that Zidane was called back by Dagger, but by then I had already smashed a small opening into the coffin that Vivi was in, and called in, "Vivi you ok?"

"Y-yeah, I'm ok," Vivi answered in the positive,

I simply said, "Zidane, help me get this damn thing open,"

"Sure"

**2 Seconds (Literally) later:**

I had essentially smashed open that coffin that Vivi was in, Zidane was only there to make sure I didn't hurt Vivi, I was essentially shaking with rage.

I now officially hate the adults from the Village of Dali.

"You ok Vivi?" I asked him when he managed to get out of that rubble,

"Yeah, I'm ok Akio," Vivi replied,

"Good, Also I hope you don't mind but if you spot the ass holes that did this to you, Point them out?"

"A-alright but why?" Vivi asked,

"So I can beat the living shit out of them for making an innocent person suffer," I explained,

Surprisingly they didn't offer any argument to stop me, so we decided to keep moving, after I stated, "Oh and Dagger that pattern on the Barrels earlier? They are related to why Cecil left Alexandria,"

**In the room after the eggs hatched:**

"What... The... HELL!" I shouted, essentially waking up everyone from their stupor, Since I followed after them after dealing with a number of monsters that attacked us.

I hear footsteps behind me, and flick my eyes to Zidane, who nodded and moved to get the other two, while I followed them into the packing machines, and ended up getting packed with Vivi,

**Outside, after Steiner Stabbed the Barrel:**

Steiner was jumping up and down in fury as I smashed the coffin me and Vivi were in with one punch.

Needless to say, Everyone jumped.

Steiner ran over to me straight away, Shouting, "Master Akio! Master Vivi! Are you ok!"

I slowly got up and helped Vivi up before stating, "Yeah I'm ok, what the hell happened?" I ask,

"We got packaged," Zidane said,

"Oh, yeah," My memory jogging into place, When I heard a faint sound from the distance, almost like a sound effect for teleporting. Wait. Teleporting? SHIT!

I then saw the 2nd Black Waltz moving rapidly across the ground, But the strange thing was, each time he teleport's, to me he only seams to change colour to a pale blue and move at the same pace, which means I was watching each, and every move he made.

Once he decided to stop in front of us I noticed the fact that he looked better built than the first, as he had a proper robe instead of a red thing that looked like it was going to fall apart. It was also of a blue shade, and his wings were bigger, allowing him to float as his robe went past his feet. It stated, "Princess Garnet, the queen is waiting for you at the castle!"

At which Zidane shouted, "You were all sent by the castle!"

Which gained him a confused look from Steiner, "What? What are you talking about!"

"The last one knocked you unconscious with the Blizzard, Said he was a Black Waltz, Weak as hell though, killed him with two attacks." I explained to Steiner,

"You two are the ones who defeated No.1?" The Black waltz stated in surprise, "I am..."

I interrupted, wanting to speed this up, "No.2 right? And there is another one after you who is stronger than both of you?"

At this he backed away fearfully, "How in the..."

"If you pay attention its obvious," I stated, "And I'll explain after we kick this ass holes ass!"

"Gr..." No.2 growled at me before saying to Dagger "Come Princess the Queen awaits!"

With which Dagger replied, "No I will not return,"

No.2's face twitched with annoyance and before he could threaten her I jumped in and said, "She said she doesn't want to go so why don't you either attack or turn tail and run like the lil' chicken shit you are?"

It looked at me with fury in its eyes and it charged for me as I drew Cecil and Angela's weapons.

**Start FFIX Boss battle music now.**

It reached out its hand with a Fira in it, trying to burn me so I decided to fight Fire with Fire, so I charged my Dark Fire into my weaponry, before blocking his hands with my blades. He looked at my weapons with surprise and backed off. "Now I see how you killed No.1 and freed Sealion from his control. Your a Dark Knight!"

I started to laugh, "What, you only just figuring it out?" I found it hilarious.

After all, Zorn and Thorn heard me state it and frankly should have told their creations.

It growled again, and instead charged after my friends, using various spells to keep me from helping them, and after a few slashes from me, it decided to trap me in a flame tornado.

In other words, It cut me from the fight.

Strange thing though, I could still see it when it did that transportation thing, Y'know that colour displacement, which I now assume is it transforming into a spirit temporarily and creates an illusion where it plans to go to make it seem like transportation, so I decided to share my theory with the group by shouting over the sound of the Inferno. Unfortunately only Vivi heard me so I decided to rely on him to launch his spells where I tell him to, "Listen Vivi, rely on me, not your senses." I told him.

"O-okay Akio," Vivi said, putting his trust into me.

I nodded and started to point out the locations of him in spirit form, which, luckily, the magic could hit. "It's heading for Steiner, Directly behind him!" With which I told Vivi to Give Steiner a Magic sword boost and turn directly around and strike.

The resulting scream was loud to say the least.

The scream of someone who deserves it suffering.

I grew to love that sound a number of years ago.

Unfortunately for us he decided to go all out and blast the hell out of everyone with a Fira.

I covered my eyes from the heat.

When I opened them again I saw that everyone except me and Dagger was on the floor near to death.

I wondered why I had been spared and why my shoulder was missing some weight.

Then I put 2+2 together and looked down.

That sight made me angry.

Well more accurately, I was **gonna rip him limb from limb!**

**Switch music to 'FFX Otherworld' (Just because it is awesome!)**

"**You!**" I shouted. And the ground started to shake. "**You are going to pay!**" And an aura of darkness formed around me, "**AND I AM PERSONALLY GOING TO MAKE SURE OF THAT!**" Then the aura turned white for a moment. And I had achieved Trance. Which was a suit of armour made from black flames, surrounding my body.

I was gonna kill this asshole!

I decided not to waste words and instead used Shadow Step and appeared in front of him, smashing my fist into his face.

At the time I had no idea where my weapons had gone,

At the time I didn't really care.

At the time, all I cared about was making sure this asshole was gonna die. Slowly. And. Painfully.

I Shadow stepped up to him, and instead of being hit again, he decided to try and teleport. Notice the emphasis on the word, try. Instead of letting him I had grabbed him by the throat while he was in spirit form. The instant my hand touched him he turned back to normal.

"Wha- how! Its not possible!" It shouted at me.

I raised him in the air. "**Then you have never fought a Dark Knight in Trance have you?**" And instead of letting him answer I Slammed him into the ground and decided to use a technique I had just devised. "**YAMI-NO-TSUBASA!**" With which, millions. Not hundreds. Not thousands. _**MILLIONS**_ of swords made from my aura started to stab into the Black Waltz. I jumped back, And They started to pierce him at a faster rate. With every sword piercing him he screamed in pain. When all of them had pierced him they exploded, leaving nothing of his corpse behind.

Yes it was overkill,

Yes it was essentially a curb-stomp overkill,

No he did not deserve mercy,

He deserved to die. Slowly. And. Painfully.

**Stop music**

My trance wore out which forced me to floor from exhaustion. I was panting heavily. I pulled out a potion from my pouch and downed it, which allowed me to stand. When I turned around a small ball of orange jumped onto me. "You ok Koro?" I asked him.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine" Koro said to me,

"How about the rest of you?" I asked, looking up at them, noticing their scared faces. "You saw that huh?"

They all nodded, even Steiner was surprised, "Master Akio, Why did you go so far?"

"..." I stayed silent before answering, "He nearly killed Koro, with the same spell that nearly killed the rest of you..."

The silence was deafening. "Well that and the fact that he tried to kill nearly everyone of my friends and kidnap the last so I took it kind of personally."

"Well if that wasn't obvious..." Zidane muttered, "But how the hell were you so strong? And what the hell was that technique?"

"Master Akio, That technique has never been used by anyone in this universe, Even in trance." Steiner added in,

"The first answer is trance. Plain and simple, the second, Yami-no-Tsubasa is a Technique I made myself, but I am not sure if I can do it out of trance, but if I could it defiantly wouldn't be as strong." I explained.

"Fair enough, so anyone got any idea where this airship is heading?" Zidane asked around,

"L-Lindblum," Steiner said,

"I Disagree, Chances are this thing is headed for Alexandria, if the cargo is any clue," I stated,

"But the old man in the shack said it so it must be true," Steiner argued,

This raised my eyebrow instantly, Steiner just confirmed my doubts just by arguing with me,

"I will go on-board and secure passage!" Steiner shouted and ran towards the Airship,

Once he was out of earshot Dagger voiced her concerns, "Zidane do you really think that this airship is heading for Lindblum?"

"Nope, probably gonna head straight to Alexandria, Like Akio said," Zidane stated.

"Then why-" Dagger started but I interrupted,

"Hijacking." I stated, "He plans to hijack the Airship and go through south gate."

"Heh, you catch on quick," Zidane said to me,

"Well all I know is that I don't want to stay in Alexandria for any longer than necessary." I told him, "And going straight to the main city is just going to get me killed."

"Then lets get moving!" Zidane said as we all moved towards the Airship.

**A.N. So what do you guys think? Oh and I should tell you that the second story will be M rated due to language, I had to really struggle to keep the language toned down on this one, and the next chapter will end before the OC I'm asking for will be met so please submit over these chapters, (Oh and the next one wont be as long, frankly I'm surprised it got as long as it did) Just remember if you want to submit an OC I need:**

**Name:**

**Description:**

**Class: (Remember preferably not one used by current characters or a Red Mage, I got plans of that one)**

**Preferred method of fighting and equipment:**

**So please R+R (Even without an OC) and NO FLAMES! Or I will send Trance Akio after you and he will do worse than he did to Black Waltz No.2, Ok, thanks and Bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A.N. Ok Before anything, I would like to say thanks to: Shadow Knight1121, Project-Apocolypse, Red Reality acebrainbuster, Taperosc and Iamnooneanymoreifyouwannaknow. And I would also like to state that if I don't use your characters in the next chapter (e.g. the Festival of the hunt), then there might be a chance of your characters being in later chapters, so keep sending them in for this chapter, but stop when I post the one after til I ask for another one, and don't be afraid to make, say a Qu, instead of a human.**

**Zidane: In other words he wants more diversity on the different races in the party,**

**Me: Yeah, so a Qu has more chance than a human to get into the main party rather than a temporary, Oh and Taperosc, I'm gonna need more detail, e.g. personality, (Really should have put that on the last chapter...)**

**Akio: Shouldn't we keep this going?**

**Me: Right, right, so anyone want to do the Disclaimer?**

***Insert cricket noises here***

**Me:... Even with a cookie bribe?**

***Insert more cricket noises here***

**Me: Well I was gonna give a cookie factory to the one that did the disclaimer this time but it looks like I...**

***Insert distant, but getting closer sounds of 'Mine, Mine, Mine'***

**Me: ...Get the cookie factory! *Insert a distant sound of 'Aww'* I own nothing to do with this story except my OC's and my ability's for said OC's and any plot changes, now enjoy the next chapter of FFIX: The Dark Knight...**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

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><p>We had gotten onto the airship with little difficulty, And that little included Zidane feeling up Dagger. I was already on board when it happened so I had no clue weather or not he tried to but couldn't he keep it for less life threatening situations?<p>

I was looking out over the clouds while Dagger and Vivi walked into the Airship,

"I trust you Zidane," Dagger said as she slammed the door in Zidane's face,

I chuckle lightly, Before stating, "You will eventually get used to it Zidane, Females are always like that,"

"Trust me, I know," He said to me as Dagger came out again, looking panicked,

"Zidane! Its Vivi- He-"

I look round, worry starting to gnaw at me again, "What's wrong?" I ask,

"He-" Dagger said before I rushed past to see Vivi trying to interact with the golems working on the engine.

"Tch, I'm gonna head up on deck," I said to them, "I need some air,"

* * *

><p><strong>On deck:<strong>

* * *

><p>As soon as I got up on deck I saw Steiner lamenting the fact that he thought he left the rest of us behind, when I said, "Steiner, You are really lucky you know that?"<p>

At the sound of my voice his head shot straight up, "Akio! You are on board!"

"As is everyone," I said to him, before making my way to the balcony and looking out over the clouds,

"Akio? What's wrong?" Steiner asked me,

"Just the fact that the second I step into Alexandria, I'm gonna be put onto the headsman's block." I told him,

"Wha- Why?" He asked, with his surprise evident on his face,

"Because I left due to Alexandria using Black Mage golems to do its work." I told him, "Like the ones downstairs."

Steiner was speechless as Zidane came up on deck. "Hey Akio, you ok?" He said,

"Yeah, just pissed that the second this lands I'm gonna get killed," I told him, winking with the eye that Steiner couldn't see.

Zidane smirked and left for the cockpit leaving me and a silent Steiner behind.

Shortly after the Airship violently did a 180° turn, meaning it was heading straight for South Gate. I smile slightly as I saw Steiner run towards the Cockpit of the ship. I stayed where I was as the golems walked to the cockpit and Vivi and dagger coming up after them. I walked up to them. "Hey," I said,

"Akio, you ok?" Dagger asked,

"Fine, just worried that were gonna be attacked by the third black waltz any time soon..." I told her, then I hear the sound of wings, and sighed, "I had to bloody jinx it didn't I?" As the third black waltz flew over, This one looked much better than the other two. He was wearing a dark blue robe with bigger and darker wings than the other two, he also had a staff that looked like a gold crescent moon on a stick.

"So No.2 was defeated by a small child?" It started, before the other black mage's came over, Obviously to protect Vivi from BW3, He just looked at them preparing their attacks While I, Garnet and Vivi retreated into the Cabin.

What happened next, I'm sure you all know, All the Black Mage golems did was defend one, which they considered, of their own, and he cut them down like weeds, Vivi was just watching, silent and I could tell that he was getting more and more angry by the second. Watching this as a CGI cut-scene was no where near as heart-rending as seeing it in person. Even Koro was upset at the brutality shown, and he must have seen brutal things as a Monster, friendly or not. We just stood there, horrified as the Black mage's were annihilated by lightning. Once it was over I just stood there slowly clenching my fists in anger, but before I could do anything, Vivi ran out screaming in Rage, With Steiner following closely behind, I left with Zidane as he ran out while I jumped through the remains of the windows of the cockpit, Leaving Koro behind to guard Dagger if the Black waltz got past us somehow

I Stayed quiet as the Pre-battle banter went on while I drew my two weapons,

The Black Waltz said, "Hmph, I should have expected the golems to protect the kid, After all its the only thing that they can actually do, apart from being meat shields, Then again, they fail at being Meat Shields as well,"

I started to leak Killing Intent as I heard these words, As did everyone, However my K.I. Was the highest apart from one, which was coming from a short distance from me, coming from the most unlikely of sources, Vivi.

"I AM GONNA RIP YOU TO PIECES!" Vivi shouted as he glowed with light,

We all covered our eyes for the brief moment when the trance light grew to blinding levels, Once it wore down, we all looked and saw that Vivi had gone from a young child size mage to an Adult sized one wearing what could only be described as High Mage Clothing, Being black with gold lining, With his brown hat being replaced with a High Quality version with a similar colour scheme as his clothing,

Vivi just looked at the Black waltz and said, "**You shall fall here,**"

I smirked and said, "Lets take this guy down,"

Steiner pointed his blade at the Black waltz and said, "You shall not take the Princess, Foul Demon!"

Zidane drew his two daggers as he said, "Lets do this thing,"

The Black Waltz just pointed its staff towards us and said, "You fools cannot stop me, I am far too strong,"

* * *

><p><strong>Que FFIX Boss battle music<strong>

* * *

><p>Zidane went in first with an overhead blow, while I said, "Shadow step,", Steiner keeping his eyes open for an opening and Vivi charging his magic,<p>

The Black Waltz dodged Zidane's attack, but failed to dodge my second one,

The B.W. Got a serious cut from my blow but could still fight and move with little hindrance.

Both Zidane and I retreated as Steiner charged in and managed to keep him busy as I said to Vivi under my breath, "You almost done charging?"

"**Almost, Steiner should be forced away soon, I will be ready then**" Vivi stated confidently, I raised an eyebrow at his confident tone but didn't comment,

Soon enough Steiner was forced back, but Vivi was still charging so as soon as he was cleared I readied my sword and shouted "Unholy Thunder!" And launched a purple thunderbolt at him. He dodged but what he wasn't expecting was Vivi's charged spell,

"**Dbl. Thunder: Plasma Bolt!**"

Which unleashed a single bolt of a deep blue at the black waltz from the sky.

As a matter of fact, I wasn't expecting the pure power behind the spell myself,

Let me put it to you this way, I was expecting two bolts of lighting that would leave little more than scorch marks on the ship and would weaken him enough to force him to retreat,

This though... This was well above what I was expecting...

The force of the 'Plasma bolt' as Vivi called it created a massive crater in the ships deck and did a little bit of damage to the engine,

However that, while huge, was not what caught my attention,

What really caught my attention was the damage done to the black waltz,

The arm and most of the chest on the side without the staff was blown to pieces now scattered around the deck, and, although the wings were spared, the amount of damage to them was over the top, almost all of the feathers were burned to a crisp apart from those attached to the bones of the wings, and even then, the damage to that part of the flesh was extremely serious, as all the visible flesh was black, and some just fell off to reveal the bone underneath.

I just looked with wide eyes and said "Bloody hell..."

Zidane and Steiner had similar reactions,

However this did provide the result that I was after, as the black waltz backed off and started to mutter, "I exist only to kill, I exist only to kill," Etc.

Vivi de-trance'd as I watched the black waltz fly off while ready, knowing that he would return. I did, however, looked like I relaxed so as to not worry my friends. Zidane and Steiner went back to the cabin and I went to the front of the ship while Vivi went to a black mage hat that hung on to a pole on the ship's handrail.

I could see the South Gate as I heard another Airship engine roaring towards us, I turned rapidly and saw the Black waltz 3, still heavily damaged, flying that little airship towards us at high speeds.

I scowled and drew Angela's dagger, and prepared myself for the stamina loss as I shouted, "Dark Shard!" as I swung the dagger multiple time's, each launching a shard towards the B.W.3.

It used the airship itself to dodge them and while it did waste time, it still got closer.

By the time we were at south gate, he was a short distance from us and I had sat down tired,

Vivi snapped his head up when I sat down and he saw the B.W.3, he got pissed and started to channel a Fire,

I got an idea and checked if it would work with Cecil and Angela,

_**I see no reason it would fail,**_

'_**Neither do I, Go for it Akio!**_'

I smirk, and down a few potion's before I sheathed Angela's dagger and drew Cecil's sword. I then nicked myself and put my blood onto the blade causing a dark aura to form round the blade.

I walked up to Vivi's side and said, "When I launch my attack, launch your spell onto the attack to dual strike him."

Vivi nodded and I put the blade backhanded and put that arm behind my body preparing to swing. I sensed the technique was ready, so I shouted, "Darkness!" and swung the blade, creating the wave.

Almost as soon as the wave left the blade, Vivi launched his spell while shouting, "BURN IN THE FIRE'S OF HELL YOU BASTARD!"

Again, I wasn't expecting the intensity of the spell, I was just expecting a small boost to the wave, making it a little stronger or faster, or just giving it a fire element.

But again, Whatever god is in this world, He/She/It/They really like fucking around with what I am expecting...

Confused? Well, the fire, (Now that I think about it I think he subconsciously used a Firaja, Unlikely but possible as this spell in the game wasn't launched so we had no idea of the power behind it.) Made the wave almost 10X longer, And if you consider the fact that the wave was as long as Plant brain before, It makes you stop and think. Especially since when it hit the smaller aircraft, the explosion was way, way, _**WAY!**_ Over the size of the South gate. And we were just lucky that the wave was pushed in the other direction, Otherwise we would have died.

Even then I was lucky my cloak seemed to be fireproof, otherwise I would have more than likely be set on fire.

Anyway, with the force of that explosion, we were forced out of the South Gate at Very high speeds. As Vivi went inside with the rest, I sighed and stayed out and watched as we went n to Lindblum.

* * *

><p><strong>Lindblum, Airship dock:<strong>

* * *

><p>Once we landed we were quickly approached by guards, I sighed and tuned out while keeping my eyes open for any huge changes.<p>

Luckily there wasn't any at this point, so I followed as we went to see Regent Cid.

Again I tuned out to the explanations as I already knew most of the crap,

Or so I thought.

I was lucky I was hearing them while not paying attention as I heard Artiana say, "... woke up one day later with an odd cloak which had a Green hammer broach on it."

My eyes widened in surprise in this, as if the information is correct then...

No. I have no idea whether or not it's true, so I am not going to get my hopes up.

Garnet went into the throne room first, followed a short while after by Steiner,

I just smirked and kept an ear out for Steiner hitting Cid in Ogloop for- *Splat*- and that's out cue.

Zidane went in first, followed by Vivi, then me slowly walking in.

And If I am honest, the game really does not do this place justice. It is a lot more lavish in person than in the game in this room, and I am assuming its similar everywhere else, shame I wasn't paying attention...

Meh.

Anyway I turned my attention to the Ogloop in the chair and saw the moustache Cid was so famous for, But that wasn't what really caught my eye.

What did was the cloak around him having a brooch that had a emerald green hammer embedded in it.

As far as I am aware, Cid, in the game, uses gold cloth instead of a brooch.

And only one man wears that specific emblem.

My eyes were wide as I looked at Cid and saw him looking the same way at me.

He spoke first,

What he said, confirmed my suspicion's.

He said:

"Akio... Is that you son?"

His voice matched,

His brooch matched,

All the evidence pointed to it,

I just couldn't believe it.

I just said one word.

"Dad..."

* * *

><p><strong>A.N. <em><span>EPIC ANNOYING CLIFHANGER !<span>_**

**Weren't expecting that were you? A massive plot twist to Akio's existence at this point in time. Now how are things gonna proceed? Heh, Find out next chapter. And I naow has a Beta! If only for my FF fics and my Naruto fic. It still helps,**

**All credit to '****absolutezero001' for agreeing to beta for me!**

***Gives absolutezero001 a cookie***

**Anyway, I am still deciding OC's for the festival of the hunt, But I have the one that's gonna work alongside the party, and this one is highly likely to stay in the party for a while, if not permanently.**

**Anyways READ AND REVIEW IF YOU WANT A COOKIE! FLAMES WILL BE USED TO BAKE SAID COOKIEZ! Ok? Thanks and Bai!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A.N.****Hai Guys, Sorry I haven't been writing recently, but I just cant really find the inspiration to write, Luckily I wont ever give up a story unless there is literally no interest in it, and this is my most successful story to date, and I thank Shadow knight1121, *space* (Seriously his name was literally a space, no idea if it was intentional or what,), CursMark and Cherie R. Lynn for their reviews of the last chapter. Apart from the guy without a name, he reviewed chapter 4, but I still like his comment. Anyway, this chapter reveals some more information on exactly what happens when people go into the FFIX world, its...**

**Akio: NO SPOILERS!**

**Me: But...**

**Akio: NO!**

**Me: Aww...**

**Anyway, I own nothing except my own ideas inserted into the FFIX story, Enjoy the chapter...**

**Chapter 9**

* * *

><p>Flashback to last chapter's ending:<p>

* * *

><p><em>I just said one word,<em>

"_Dad..."_

* * *

><p>End flashback:<p>

* * *

><p>The silence after I said that word was so thick, you could see it. Everyone had dropped jaws except me and Dad, From Steiner and Zidane, the floor was even cracked from the force of it. Eventually I said, "As much as this awkward silence is funny, We have things to do, Mind if we move on?"<p>

This shook everyone out of there stupor, as Cid continued, "Anyway, as I was saying before The other spirit in my body found his son, I am Cid Fabool, The other is Cid Matsuki, Don't ask me why the names are the same, Neither of us know, and I doubt it is the same for Akio there as I Recognise that body as the Alexandrian Dark Knight Cecil. However I also recognised you Garnet from the description of your gem, Extremely close to my Falcon's claw. And I am really delighted to see you Garnet, You have grown into a fine young lady, while I..."

The minister interrupted and said,

"Allow me to explain, About six months ago someone snuck into the castle and attacked the regent in his *ahem* sleep, Unfortunately we were too late, The regent became an Ogloop with another soul in his body, and his wife, the lady Hilda, became missing, presumed kidnapped,"

I then narrowed my eyes and lowered my eyes to the ground in a thoughtful position and muttered, "This makes no sense..."

Everyone looked at me and Cid asked, "What do you mean?"

I flicked my eyes to Cid and said, "My father died over 4 years before I did, Yet you say that he has only been in this realm as part of you for 6 months while I have been here for a week... It makes no sense... Unless the spacial displacement also effects the Temporal... Then it makes some modicum of sense but... That could mean the rest of my family and even the one who killed us all could be scattered across the time-line..."

Only Cid, Artiana, Garnet and surprisingly Vivi followed me on my rant, The others just got lost, as was evident on their faces.

At that point Cid said "While that is interesting and worrying, we do have things to attend to other than throwing theories around."

Dagger took over and said, "That's right, Uncle Cid I desperately need to speak to you about my Mother."

Cid nodded and said, "That's what I figured," as he hopped of the throne and walked down the steps to Dagger, "But I am sure that it can wait til the morn, why don't you all get some rest and make sure that you have your thoughts correctly in order before we speak important matters,"

Artiana then spoke up and said "Its time for lunch, would you all follow me please,"

At that point Zidane spoke up and said, "You mind if I head into town for my food, the food up here is too high class for my tastes, I prefer simpler food,"

Cid shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sure, why not,"

I then spoke up and asked, "You mind if I come with Zidane? I need to get some air anyway,"

Again a shrug and a sure from both Cid and Zidane, although Cid added, "Would you mind coming back before night Akio? You and the other me do need to catch up after all." I nodded and left with Zidane, Koro staying on my shoulder the whole time.

* * *

><p><strong>In front of a bar somewhere in Lindblum:<strong>

* * *

><p>We stopped in front of a bar and looked over the menu, Zidane muttering about the quality of high class food Vs low class food. "So Today's special... Soup Du Silence, not bad,"<p>

I said, "Don't really like the sound of that, What else is there?"

"Hmm... What about Zaghnol Stake?"

My eyes light up and I agreed as we went in.

* * *

><p>It was a dark bar with a low ceiling and stone floor, with various working types sitting on various tables, none of which stood out. The only person who stood out was the Burmecian in a red coat with a spear on her back at the bar drinking. Zidane spoke up and said, "Yo Pops, One of your stupid specials and a Zaghnol steak for my friend here!"<p>

The heavy set fellow behind the bar looked up as he said, "Who said that!" As he turned and saw me and Zidane he said, "Zidane, Figured it was you, Alright take a seat both of you, The food will be ready shortly,"

I took a seat next to the Red coated Burmecian as Zidane Started hitting on the Waitress. As soon as he started I sighed and muttered, "He's never gonna stop is he? Yo, You mind if I get a Beer with that steak and one now?"

The guy nodded and opened a beer and put it in front of me as the Burmecian said to me, "If you have held onto that hope til now, You obviously haven't known him long,"

I glanced over at the Bumecian, Y'know what, everyone here knows its Freya so imma jus gonna say her name from now,

Angela perked up and said, '**_Did you just say Freya?_**'

I smile slightly and say to Freya "Only known him for about a week, and we only stayed two of those nights in a town." while inwardly saying to Angela '_Yeah, she's a major character of this, you know her?_'

Freya smirked and said, "That explains it, Anyway, Names Freya, You?"

Angela said, '**_Of course I bloody do, She was my best friend!_**'

I smile slightly and said "Akio,"

Of course Zidane was still flirting as the heavy set guy said, "Can either one of you get Zidane seated, His foods gonna be ready soon,"

Freya smirked and said, "Watch this," as she turned to the bar to hide her smirk as she said, "Hey Monkey-tail, Your disturbing the other customers."

Zidane then turned around furiously and said "What the- Hey you've got a tail too Rat-face!"

Freya scoffed and said, "Rat-face huh? After I finish my drink I'm gonna kick your ass,"

The heavy set guy then interrupted with the classic barman "Take it outside" comment as Freya stood,

Zidane was taken aback as Freya said "Long time, Zidane,"

Zidane smiled as he said, "Hey! What's up! Wait a moment..."

Freya raised an eyebrow and said "What you forget my name?"

Zidane shook his hands at her as he said, "No no I remember, Helga right?"

Freya's eyebrow raised more as she said "Nope,"

Zidane lowered his arms as he turned his head to the side with narrowed eyes as he took a shot in the dark with "... Christine?"

Freya narrowed her eyes as she stated, "No"

Zidane's eyes then widened with realisation as he smacked his fist into his palm and said, "Oh yeah, You used to live next door to me, Hows it going Ratchel? You've gotten... Big"

Freya then grabbed the spear on her back with one hand and said, "Gimme one good reason to gut you, Please."

Zidane then waved his hands in a placating manner as he said, "Come on. I'm just kiddin'. You know I never forget a pretty girl's name, So How've you been Freya?"

Freya smiled slightly as she moved her hand from her spear and said, "... Same old Zidane,"

They both came to the bar with Freya on my left side and Zidane on her left.

Zidane then finally remembered me and said, "Oh yeah, Freya this is my friend Akio, Akio this is Freya, a friend from way back."

Me and Freya looked at each other and said, "We know," In perfect Sync. As I elaborated with "We met when you were flirting."

Zidane nodded in understanding as his soup and my steak was placed in front of us. I ate while Zidane and Freya Caught up. Already knowing the Convo I tuned out til the Festival of the hunt got mentioned, More specifically to make sure I don't miss any possible comments or questions directed at me,

"Aren't you participating Zidane?" Freya asked,

"...Nah, Think Ill pass, Akio might want to though."

Freya said, "Lazy bum," Before looking over to me with a raised eyebrow and asking, "Well?"

I swallow the bite that was in my mouth and say, "I'm gonna need to look over the rules and see about the participation of pets and the use of items, but other than that, I aught to be good to go."

Freya looked up at Koro and said, "A Mu huh? They tend to be quick kills in the festival so I wouldn't recommend letting him stay with you but there are no specific rules against using pets, Items however are fair game."

I narrow my eyes in thought for a slight moment as I thought through my options. I then said, "Provided things go in my favour, I'll be participating."

Freya smirked and said, "Hope your good with that blade then."

Zidane then scoffed and muttered, "He's saved my life enough times,"

Freya raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do I want to know the Story?"

I then smirk and explain the adventure so far, Focusing on my trance kill of Black Waltz 2 and The Overcharged Darkness that 'killed' Black Waltz 3, with occasional exerpts added by Zidane.

At the end of the story, (With the tidbit's of me technically being the 'Regents' Son not included, along with the names of the other Dark Knight's 'inside' me) Freya Whistled and said, "Nice, But one thing has caught my attention,"

I turn back to my beer, the steak having been finished before now. "The name of the skills used?" Freya nods, "Lemme know what your thinking and I'll answer,"

Freya stops for a moment and thinks before stating in a quiet voice "I think that you are a Dark Knight,"

I smirk and nod, motioning her to continue,

She does, "However you also have some skills that belong to an old friend of mine,"

I nod again,

She then says, "So I guess my real question is how you know those skills,"

I look at my beer and think of the best way to tell her about Angela, before said spirit imposes herself into my thoughts.

_**'Hand her my Dagger, I will be able to talk to her directly, I'll break the news to her.'**_

_Your sure?_

_**'Yeah,'**_

Without removing my eyes from the beer I reach behind my back and drew out the dagger and look at it for a moment. I then flip it so I'm holding the blade and hand it to Freya Handle first.

She raises an eyebrow and I just say, "Take it, Your questions will be answered."

Freya and Zidane have sceptical faces as she takes it. Once its in her hand she starts to ask, "So what-" before she cut herself off and clutched her head and her face went through a number of emotions, Surprise, Shock, Elation, Doubt, Sadness, Soul Rending Sorrow before it finally settled on determination as she handed the dagger back to me.

I took it and all I heard from Angela was, _**'I let her know everything I know from digging around in your head apart from your worlds link to this one' **_before she retreated into the corners of my consciousness to be alone.

Freya looked at me and asks, "Was that all true,"

"Not sure what she told you but from what I can tell, she would only tell you the truth or solid theories" I replied taking a swig of the beer.

Freya nodded and turned back to her drink as I looked outside at the sun.

It was fairly low on the horizon, meaning that we had been there for a few hours.

I turn back to Freya and ask, "When was the festival?"

She replied with, "Two days from now."

I nod and say, See you then, then, I gotta get going." as I got up and left the bar, heading back to the castle.

* * *

><p><strong>A short while later in Lindblum castle:<strong>

* * *

><p>I went straight to the throne room and caught Dagger just leaving Cid. I ask, "I hope I'm not interrupting,"<p>

Dagger shook her hands at me and said, "No, no, I was just leaving."

I nod to her as she left, leaving me and Cid alone in the room.

I hear Cid sigh as he said, "C'mon, This Conversation is likely to take a while so we might as well sit during it." I nod and we both go to the steps and sit down. Once seated Cid turned back to me and state, "I'm letting your Father in charge of my body for this conversation, but I will be listening."

I nod and say, "That's how it is with all Multi spirit bodies,"

Cid nods and closes his eyes for a brief moment. When they opened, they immediately took on a soft tone as My father looked at me in the first time since he died. "My Son. You have no idea how happy I am to see you. Yet how grief stricken that you are here in the first place."

I smile slightly and said, "Its ok dad, I lived a good life for the years you and mom were dead." At this a tear dropped from my right eye as I remembered my departed wife and child. "If you had lived you would have even been a grandparent." I started as I began to fill him in on the part of my life that he was unable to be there for by no fault of his own. His eyes filled with pride and happiness for me as I described my life.

Until the final days.

Until the return of the Bastard who ripped all of my family from my life and scattered them among this world and time-line like leaves in a breeze.

His eyes widened in horror at the description of what I had to go through when my wife and child died.

His eyes burned in righteous fury as I described the final fight of that life for myself.

And his eyes seemed to gain hope for both himself and me as I described my theory about what happened to the souls of my mother and my dearly beloved wife and child.

I finished my tale and let the information sink in while I waited for a response.

When he finally responded he said, "That's... a lot to take in but at the same time I know it is correct, as does the Cid of this realm."

I then smirk slightly as I said, "I have a small theory about where mom went though." His eyes instantly snapped to me with a begging deep in them. "I think that she is in Hilda. The wife of the Cid of this Realm."

He blinked and my father said, "That... That makes sense..."

I then got hit with melancholy as I then said, "But I have no clue where any others might be... Including my wife and child..."

Dad then jumped onto my unocupied shoulder and enveloped as much of me in a hug as he could. "As you said, If you follow the storyline then you will find them again, after all it lead you to me, so it should lead you to the rest." He then pulled back and said with a grin, "And make sure to find my Grandchild! I always wanted to be a grandfather!"

This got me out of my funk and got me chuckling. "Thanks Dad, I needed that."

But then he got serious as he jumped down from my shoulder and said, "There is a small snag that the Cid of this realm just brought up though." I raised an eyebrow and motioned for him to continue

"I want to treat you as a son in public again, But in order to do so This realms Cid needs to adopt you, but if that happens then you would have to either stay here or go everywhere with a contingent of guards."

I went into shock for a moment before I started to think the entire thing through.

_What do you think guys?_

_**It would be dangerous to accept at this moment. But otherwise it would be fine. I would recommend waiting until after this adventure was finished.**_

'_**I agree with Cecil there, It would be too dangerous to take a huge group of guards everywhere and staying behind is a big No No. So put a belay on that request.**_'

I mentally nod and say, "I would like to agree but neither of those options would be beneficial at this point in time. So its going to have to wait until after everything is done and dusted."

Dad nodded.

I then yawned.

Dad chuckled and said, "We have some guest rooms in the castle so why don't you go and get some sleep."

I nodded slowly, but I said, "I should tell you, I plan on participating in the festival of the hunt in two days."

Dad froze for a moment. But then he slowly nodded, "Go for it, Ill be rooting for you."

I smile and nod as I stood and headed for the guest rooms.

I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow with a smile on my face, knowing for certain that my family is in this world and I would see them again.

Just like I have dreamt every night since they died.

**A.N. *Phew* I finally got that chapter done. I was planning on getting to the start of the Festival of the hunt but I want this chapter up to show that I am still writing,**

**speaking of which, I apologize for not getting something up before now, I have hit Major writers block, Mass effect 3, and college work. Again, props to my Beta absolutezero001 and any reviews, (Even just positive comments) Will be appreciated, Except for flames. THOU SHALT NOT FLAME! See you all next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Hey guys, Sorry its been while since I last updated... anything really on here, but well, Life got serious and decided to pile a hell of a lot of shit onto me recently, so yeah. Anyway, I kinda had to break my promise about the Festival being in this chapter, but hopefully the way I've done things is up to standard, and the set up for the festival will be ensuring I cant put of the festival for the next chapter. Also, I got a Co-writer. Its a friend of mine who goes by the Alias's Nier and Bailey33. Not sure if he has an account on here, but he helps a lot and it really does help to have someone to bounce ideas off of. Anyway, time to begin, so I hope you enjoy Chapter 10.**

**Chapter 10**

**Zidane's POV**

I cracked my eyes open and yawned, the light peeked through the curtains as I got myself out of bed _Man these little inns beat that stuffy old castle any day._

There was a day until the festival started so there was plenty of time to kill, it was more a case of what to do then anything else. I looked down at the daggers strapped to my side, they were pretty crappy looking after all the battles maybe a trip to the weapon shop wouldn't hurt. I left the inn and headed toward the air cab, luckily I got there just before it left for the business district, ten minutes in the air cab definitely beat two hours walking.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Skip to the weapon shop<strong>_

* * *

><p>I stepped into the weapons shop, taking a quick look at the weapons on display most of it was those clunky broadswords <em>Man those things suck, don't know how rusty can use them. <em>So instead I walked up to the shop keep and called out to him "Yo old guy, show me what daggers you got"

The old guy frowned over at me, probably didn't take to well to being called 'old' "We have your generic daggers and some Mage Mashers"

I groaned inwardly, they didn't have anything new? "You haven't go anything better then Mage Mashers? Oh man...guess I'll just get some of those then." the old guy looked at me approvingly, probably just happy he was getting some business "Alright that'll be 500 gil"

I sighed heavily and handed the money over, paying for things always sucks "Thanks..." I turned to leave but the old guy spoke up "Hey, why don't you check out the synthesist? Its just a little further down the way"

I immediately perked up after that, there was bound to be something good at the synthesist so I thanked the old guy and headed over there.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Skip to the synthesist.<strong>_

* * *

><p>I walked up to the counter at the synthesists and tried to get the shop keeps attention, he was pretty old just the weapons dealer so I spoke up "Hey, old man tell me what you have." he took a moment to register that, before suddenly shifting and speaking up in a raspy voice "Eh? Old? I'm not old, just seasoned is all. What do you want eh?"<p>

I slowly shook my head and asked my question again "What do you have? I need a new weapon." the old man looked thoughtful for a second before suddenly piping up again "With those two Mage Mashers you have there, I can make you a pretty decent weapon called 'The Ogre'"

I nodded my head eagerly, it sounded like a pretty cool weapon so I handed over my Mage Mashers "Alright, here are the Mage Mashers when can I come get it?" the old man didn't seem to hear me as he turned around and called out to someone at the back "'Ey boy! C'mere we got a job" he quickly turned back to me to finish his sentence "And you, your weapon will be done in about an hour, come back later."

I nodded my head and walked out the store, I reckon I could kill an hour around here there was bound to be something fun to do.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Skip an hour, back to the synthesist<strong>_

* * *

><p>I walked back into the synthesist raising my voice so the old guy could hear me "Hey old man, you have my weapon for me?"<p>

The old, who looked like he was sleeping in his chair, jumped up glaring towards me "Not old! Just seasoned!" his glare turned to confusion before continuing "Huh wha? Oh yeah, you're here for your weapon yeah? C'mere"

I stepped towards him and held out my hands expectantly for my new weapon "Well where is it?"

He bent down and pulled a double bladed sword from under his desk. Now I'd always been one for the daggers but even I had to admit, this thing looked bad ass. I reached out to snatch it up, but the old dude pulled it back saying "That'll be 900gil"

I sighed and paid up, once again paying was not my style but I really had to have that sword "Thanks, can I have the weapon now?"

The old dude nodded and handed over the sword while he counted the money. As soon as it was in my grasp I twizzled it experimentally with this huge grin on my face before strapping it to my back "This'll do awesome, thanks old dude." I immediately turned to leave him before he could start ranting about his age that I had a new weapon I wasn't really sure what to do with myself, there was plenty of things around but most of it got boring quick _Maybe a should visit the hide out, yeah that's what I'll do!_

With the decision made I wandered off towards the air cab, sort of hoping the cab to theatre district hadn't left yet.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Skip to Tantalus hide out<strong>_

* * *

><p>I stepped into the hideout, breathing in the musty air and take a quick glance around "I figured there wouldn't be anybody here. It looks like nobodies been here for a while." I walked over to the wall and leant against it "What to do, what to do..."<p>

As I thought out loud, the clock began to move striking to gong to show that a play had just ended "...I wonder how Dagger is doing."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Tantalus hide out (After Dagger ATE)<strong>_

* * *

><p>I was thinking about Dagger when Bunce and Lucella walking in broke me out of my Daze "There he is!" said Bunce<p>

"I told you he'd be here" Replied Lucella

I slowly pushed myself away from the wall and walked over to the kids as they continued there little rant "Why didn't you tell us you were back, we're in Tantalus to you know"

I took a second to process that information before replying "What?"

"Yeah! Uncle Baku if we find some treasure, we can be in Tantalus too!" said Lucella. It was weird, this didn't sound like the old man at all.

Bunce nodded eagerly "Yeah! Check this out!" he strode over towards me with a proud look on his face as he pulled his 'treasure' out of his pocket.

To me, it looked like a pair of ordinary trick sparrow wings but you know me mister nice guy all over "Wow, these are are trick sparrow's wings! That sure is some treasure you've found, alright!" I made myself sound suitable impressed and it seemed to work judging by the "Yay's!" and "Yipee's!" the kids were now making.

With that over the kids started asking me questions about the plan "So did the plan work?"

I wasn't to keen on sharing it with them but it couldn't really do any harm now "...Yeah, Princess Garnet is at the castle."

The kids broke into great big smiles with Lucella shouting out "Really!? Wow! So, what's she like? is she cute?"

I almost laughed at the questions, it wasn't something you expected to hear from a kid, nevermind a little girl. I had an even harder time when Bunce asked "Did you ask her out yet?"

I didn't usualy talk to kids about my love life, but hey I guess i'm quite a soppy guy after all "No...I think she's pretty busy. Plus, she's a princess and I'm a...you know, so...I don't know."

The kids looked up at me with their innocent little eyes "I bet she misses you" piped Lucella, closely follow by a little advice from Bunce "You should go see her!"

Before I could answer they told me "Good luck" and ran off. _Man...look at me getting advice from kids. _Though the kids were right in a way "I wonder if she got to see Cid, Maybe I should go see her..."

With my mind made up I wandered out of the hide out and headed off towards the castle.

**Akio's POV:**

I awoke to the sounds of someone having the shit beat out of them, I opened my eyes and blinked a couple of times, realising with the stylish roof, and collums around a part of said roof that I was in the Guest room, and that it was more than Likely Zidane beating the shit out of the general and stealing his armour. I sighed lightly and waited until I heard zidane mutter "Well that was easy," and leave with the armour on and the general in the cupboard.

I get up and crack my neck, before replacing my cloak and weapons to where they were, along with my pack and getting Koro onto my shoulders, as I noticed that Daggers song was echoing throughout the castle, making me smile a little. I slowly followed Zidane at a distance, and since the soldiers knew that Cid is letting me live in the castle and see him at any time, I just passed the soldier guarding the lift once Zidane got off his.

Luckily, he was just turning the corner when my lift got up there, and I was quickly able to tail him, Occasionally having to use Shadow Step to move so that Zidane wouldnt notice me.

Once he entered the room with the engine and the path to the roof, I waited a little bit, before following him up there.

Now, I dont think this is made too clear, but this is the actual roof of the entire Lindblum castle, So its on the top of the massive ass Castle you see in the CGI, and all you can really say is that the View is Fucking Beautiful. If it wasnt for the fog, you would actually be able to see for miles, and with one side facing the rest of the continent with a telescope, and the other facing the sea, no matter which side you look from, its beautiful to see.

But something struck me as odd during the game, and even moreso now, The roof here is so much older than the rest of the entire city, with the material being a lot more different, and being more dilapidated than the rest of the town. I dont quite know why this is, but no matter what happens to lindblum, the roof of the castle doesnt seem to ever take damage... Its odd, but I dont have time to look into it now.

Once up there, I stayed on the lower tier, listening in to their conversation, until Zidane said, "Oh hey! There's a telescope. Let's go check it out!" And with matching their footsteps, I moved to one of the collumns close to where the telescope was.

Again I listen in to the conversation, and, to be clear, I'm not actually behind a collum, I'm on a side facing the direction in which Dagger faces when she begins to sing, but with where I am as well, I'm also in a shadow so unless they specifically look for me, I wont be spotted outright. The Conversation quickly moves forward, with Zidane giving Dagger the Sleeping weed, and Dagger beginnging to sing.

I smile at the song, before pulling out my Ocarina and perfectly matching the song, creating a song that flowed through the streets of lindblum, light enough so that, if you heard it, you would think it was only the wind, but loud enough that the entire city could hear it.

Sadly, this ended fairly quickly as Zidane noticed me,

"Akio?"

This shocked Dagger out of singing, so I reluctantly stopped playing, and looked towards them, commenting with a light smirk, "Nice to see you two getting along."

This got Zidane somewhat embarrased, and Dagger refusing profusley, but I just waved it off and asked, "So what were the both of you doing up here?"

Zidane said, "I heard Dagger singing so I got up here to see her,"

I sighed and said, "And you woke me up in the process, I was asleep in the Guest room you know."

Zidane Flinched lightly and said, "Sorry, I didnt think anyone would be in there after Steiner left."

I waved him off and looked towards Dagger, "And you?"

She sighed and said, "I was feeling somewhat cooped up, with not being able to leave the room so I Snuck out and came here to relax."

I nod in understanding, and look back towards Zidane, "So you ready for the Festival Zidane?"

He smirked and pulled out a dual bladed sword, and stated, "With the Ogre here, I'm well set to kick both your and some monster Ass!"

I smile and mentioned "The weapon doesnt make the Man, Zidane. And I plan to get some training done out in the field before tomorrow,"

Zidane let out a small laugh "Well, lets see who win's tomorrow then, I'm half expecting Freya to slaughter our asses, Although I have heard that there is an extreamly skilled Archer entering the tournament, along with a number of other people."

I nod in appreciaton of the information, and smile slightly before responding, "Well how about we have a little bet between the three of us?"

This got their attention, with Zidane responding with, "The bet and Stakes being?"

I grinned "We bet on who wins, and we chose our own stakes, Ill start, I bet I win, and i'll put up what would have been my prize out of my own pocket."

Zidane's eyes light up, and Dagger seems very interested, Zidane exclaimed "Same stakes but with me winning,"

We both turn to Dagger as she Decided "The stakes will be Me going on a Date with Zidane, and I say the winner will be the Archer Zidane mentioned earlier."

I smile and finalise the bet with "So if I win, I get Zidane's prize and Zidane gets a Date with Dagger, If Zidane Wins he gets my prize and a date with Dagger, and if the Archer wins, Dagger gets what both of our prizes would have been." and with both of their nods, I hold out my hand,

Both of them take it, and the bet is sealed.

I smiled "I better get going and get some training done then, See you both later." as I turned and left them both on the roof.

* * *

><p><strong>Buisness district:<strong>

* * *

><p>I quickly caught the next air cab from the castle into the closest district to town. I quickly made my way out of the station, and towards the gate.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Outside Lindblum:<strong>

* * *

><p>As I made it to the fields outside Lindblum I sighed in relief at finally reaching my destination. I mutter to myself, "Damn it, do they really have to make paths that long?" What with the walk taking a number of hours, and now the sun is about half way to setting. I sigh, and proceed to keep walking, hoping to find something to practice on.<p>

After a little while, I find something. A single Carve Spider, near one of the mountains on the Plateu. I raise an eyebrow and mutter, "While not what I was hoping for, it'll do for a warm up." whilst drawing Cecil and Angels's blades.

I quickly moved towards it, and drew Cecil's blade back for my first attack, "Unholy Thunder." With which I quickly thrust the blade forward, and sent a black bolt of lightning towards the Spider. The Lightning quickly tore through it, and struck the mountain behind it.

However, thats where something odd happened, the mountain wall crumbled and opened up into a well made cave. I blinked in surprise, but sheathed my blades and continued into the cave, wondering what was inside.

* * *

><p><strong>A short distance inside<strong>

* * *

><p>I have been following this cave for a good half an hour, and all that has happened, is that it has become more cleanly cut as I go, and there are no turn offs what so ever along the way. This was striking me as odd, but not too surprising if this cave was what I thought it was. After a while, I came out into a wider cave, with smooth stone walls, and two torches on the left and right walls, Between the two torches was an enshrined Dark Knight Blade. Meaning another Dark knight's soul was enshrined here.<p>

Again I walked forward, and again, the black flame in the air that represents a Dark knights soul appeared with, "_**Hold up there**_"

I stop and bow slightly to the flame, "I am Akio Matsuki, Unbound Dark Knight, One who does not wield his own blade, the one who wields the blade of Angela and the one who inhabits the body of Cecil, Both of which are fellow Dark Knights. May I ask who you are?"

The flame flickered sightly before replying, "_**You need not be so formal Akio, but I am Lee, fallen Dark Knight of Lindblum**_."

I ask, "Whom did you serve under?"

"_**Lord Cid Fabool IX, why?**_"

"I see... If you bond with me, you will learn why, so it would be quicker to do the test, so if I do manage to bond with you I wont have to waste time explaining."

Lee's flame bobbed in agreement, before it stated, "_**Very well then, My test is simple, but immensly difficult. You must either Visit another world, Or have Visited another world, within 5 years of the second you accept. Do you accept?**_"

I blink. I blink a second time. Then I state, "I accept." Before I, along with Angela and Cecil in my mind, Burst out laughing at how I managed to complete this test, before I even knew it was a test.

Lee's flame flickered curiosly, before he noticed his blade change to a pair of spiky Chakrams, and he flickered as he figured it out. "_**Heh, I guess my test doesnt work with a world traveler... Take my Chakrams Akio, You will need them in the coming months.**_"

I am smiling from my laughing spree as I take the Chakrams and attach them onto my belt. I then comment offhand, "Now I need to practice..." Then I remember something, "Damn it, most of the monsters around here are too weak to practice properly."

Then Lee comes to my rescue, "_**Well there is the cave behind my shrine, It has some stronger monsters in there, a good number of them as well, along with something in the chest that I think your gonna need.**_"

I nod my head at Lee's comment and walk around where his blade was enshrined and knocked aruond on the walls until I heard one give an echo back. I smile and use Cecil's blade to knock down the wall.

Note to self, Knocking down walls when you know something fairly strong is behind them is a bad idea.

The second the wall falls, I get knocked back and into the shrine. Thing is, it wasnt phisical, It was a wave of some sort through the air.

I jump to the side guessing, correctly, that another of what was fired to send me back was coming my way before looking up at the monster.

It was odd, something like a humanoid Bat, except no eyes at all, larger ears, larger fangs, and a pair of arms along side the wings and clawed feet.

It began twitching its head in multiple directions, and with noticing that it had no eyes and large ears proved it depended on Echolocation like normal bats, and thus, easily confusable. I smile slightly and replace Cecil's blade in its sheath before drawing Lee's chakrams carefully, making no sound, before bursting forward and slicing at him, causing sound in a variety of places.

It seems that the Echolocation in these humanoids is fairly strong, because despite all of the different sound echo's it was able to determine exactly where my attack was coming from, and defend itself, blocking my blow with his arm. Once he did that, I smiled slightly, before screaming at the top of my lungs, deafening it. It stumbled back, which gave me enough time to remove its head with the chakram in my left hand. I smirk, and turn back to the cave, and prepare for the others within.

I then hear a screech and see two of the same beings come out of the cave, I settle into a ready position as Lee's voice echo's in my head, '_**I have three skills that you can use now, Dark Fira, Soul Eater and Death. Lets see how you handle them.**_'

I smirk and state, "Lets do this, Dark Fira!" As the black flames encased my Chakrams, I charged forward, between the two whilst slashing at them, removing one of each of their arms. Since the blades were on fire, no blood was spilled, and with them screeching in pain, which disorientated the other, I was quickly able to throw both of the chakrams and remove their heads.

I then roll forwards and retrieve the chakrams as another being comes at me, I look it over carefully before I smirk and state, "Soul Eater" Causing the flames on the chakrams to be replaced with a black energy. I quickly charge forward and slash at the being. As I was doing so I noticed that each time I landed a slash with Soul Eater active, I regained health, making me smirk even wider, as I sped up my blows, dealing more and more damage to the being, until it eventually succumbed to its wounds and fell over dead. I crack my neck as a larger and more bulky version of the beings comes out from the hole, roaring.

I narrowed my eyes, and stated, "Time for Death to pay you a visit." As I channeled the last of the skills granted to me by Lee. Once the spell was prepared, I noticed I had an odd claw on my right hand and my chakrams had placed themselves onto my belt. I grinned as I charged towards the being, dodging its overhead strike along the way, as I launched the claw into its chest, bringing out a glowing ball. I smirk as I crush it, which caused the large being to collapse. Dead.

I stumble as the skill finishes, it taking a good amount of strength from me. I pant as I retrieve a Potion from my pack and drink it, giving me back my strength, and allowing me to go into the hole in the wall and see what lies beyond.

Turns out it was an extreamly small cave, and the only thing left in here is some bones, a hole above, probably how the beings got out to hunt, and a treasure chest. I go up to the chest, muttering "Hope something good is in here."

Opening the chest I find a number of Hi-Potions, which I quickly put in my pack as I smile, and slowly walk back to Lindblum, noticing that its starting to get late to the look of the sky from the hole, so I decided to head back and get some sleep, I'm gonna need it for the Festival tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>Next day Guest room: The beginning of the festival:<strong>

* * *

><p>I was leaning against the wall near the cupboard while I was waiting for the Festival of the Hunt to begin. Within this room was everyone you normally see in the game in somewhat the same positions, however, there was a blonde girl with green eyes and wearing somewhat worn leather clothes standing near the doorway in the kinda pose that you see on the people that feel extreamly awkward in the situation they are in.<p>

I was surprised at how many people actually entered this thing when I saw the sign up sheets. Yes, Plural. Turns out that there are a lot more than the three districts then what are shown within the game, which shouldnt be a surprise. However, over 500 people signed up to this competition. I wonder how this would work before I realise that there would be distinctions within the competition, and only certain people would actually compete against each other. I smile as the guard comes in and begins asking for the rewards. Something that surprised me again, was that you could literally ask for anything, and so long as you were willing to wait, said thing would be indebted to your family until it was delivered. Since I am/was/will be the regents son, I could ask for what I plan to, very easily.

"Master Zidane, what would you take as a reward?"

Zidane smirks and states, "Gil, and lots of it."

We all roll our eyes at that answer, knowing what he was going to say.

"Master Freya, What would you take as a reward?"

Freya thinks for a moment before going with, "I would take an Add-on"

"Master Akio, what would you take as a reward?"

I grin, and state, "A small airship that runs without mist."

Everyone doubletakes at me, before the guard clears his throat and states, "You do realise that may take a fair amount of time?" I nod and he moves on.

"Master Kara, What would you take as a reward?"

The Blonde at the door stumbles for a moment, before answering, "A Bow, Crafted by a master"

The guard nods and moves on to the final contestant, "Master Vivi, What would you take as a reward?"

Vivi stumbles majorly before he lookes wide-eyed at the guard and states, "W-what? I didnt enter myself in the hunt."

Zidane grins and states, "I entered you Vivi, I figured you needed some practice with your magic so I put your name down, and besides, With the amount of power you have, It should be a snap for you to do good, if not win."

Vivi looks somewhat nervous with the amount of pressure put onto him with Zidanes confidence, so while Freya and Dagger chew him out, I go up to Vivi and state, "Vivi, Dont think of this a competition, Think of this as a way to train. Just go out and fight the monsters, using them as a way to get more in practice with your magic, so it responds easier to you. Can you do that for me?"

Vivi looks at me with his wide eyes and I can tell he is grateful as he nods, and looks at the guard, before stating, "I-I'll take a Rare Card."

The guard raises an eyebrow before reading back the list, "So Master Zidane will take Gil, Master Freya an Add-On, Master Akio an... Airship that runs without mist... Master Kara a Bow crafted by a master, and Master Vivi a... Rare Card..." He sighs before he continues with the speech about the hunt, but it actually goes on for Three hours, not half an hour. We all nod in acceptance, as the guard goes onto the starting locations. "Now, because of the extrodinarily large amount of people entering the hunt this time around, we have split the city into a number of sections, each with 3 districts within them, This group has the Buisness District, Industrial District and the Theater District to take care of. Master Akio will begin in the Theater District, Master's Zidane and Vivi will begin in the Buisness District and Master's Freya and Kara will begin in the Industrial District. Any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads. He then smirked, "The hunt will begin once everyone has made it to the districts they are designated to start in. May Lady Luck grant her blessings upon you."

We all follow the guard out to the air cab platform, and I smirk, thinking '_This Is gonna be one hell of a party, lets hope I win._'

**AN: And done, Hope you enjoyed, and I hope you guys leave a review, since it would let me know if i'm doing things right or wrong. Again, flames will be ignored, Hope to see you guys later.**


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